Event
Summary
Informatica Corporation (NASDAQ: INFA), a provider of e-Business
analytic software, has announced the availability of Informatica PowerCenter
5, an enterprise data integration platform for the deployment and
management of analytic applications and data warehouses. The vendor states
that the Informatica PowerCenter 5 suite "is designed to be a high-performance,
scalable platform employed to meet the most demanding requirements of
global companies and rapidly growing e-Businesses".
"Large-scale
enterprise and e-Business customers face unique challenges: more data
in more complex environments with less time to get it right," said Gaurav
Dhillon, CEO of Informatica. "Informatica provides analytic software to
help companies better understand their operations, customers and suppliers
so that they're able to grow their businesses and improve operating performance."
The
Informatica PowerCenter suite includes new releases of the company's flagship
data integration products, Informatica PowerCenter 5 and Informatica
PowerCenter 5 Data Integration Hub. In addition, the family includes
new connectivity options such as Informatica PowerConnect for Siebel
and Informatica PowerConnect for IBM MQSeries (which includes real-time
data integration capabilities), as well as enhanced versions of Informatica
PowerConnect for SAP R/3 and Informatica PowerConnect for PeopleSoft.
The new architecture also provides native support for leading e-Business
data types, such as XML and clickstream, as well as "substantial increases
in performance and scalability". Together, these connectivity options
should allow companies to integrate their disparate operations while leveraging
their existing IT investments.
Evidence
of increased acceptance within the marketplace is shown by Informatica's
Q4 2000 numbers, which show a 150% increase in revenues over the previous
year. In addition, revenues for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2000
were $154.1 million, an increase of 147% over fiscal year 1999. Informatica
also signed 123 new customers, including Ariba, BMW, Kaiser
Permanente, and Sun Life Assurance. This brings
the total number of new customers signed during 2000 to 485.
Market
Impact
The
new platform products from Informatica are designed for what one vendor
describes as "e-Business infrastructure enablement" (Informatica calls
it "enterprise data integration"). They are similar in many ways to the
product offering from Ascential Software in partnership
with Torrent Systems, which was also recently announced.
Other vendors, such as IONA Software, have also made moves
into the "e-Business enablement" arena, often by acquiring other vendors
with specific expertise, such as the handling of XML data. (For more information
about IONA, see IONA
purchases Netfish Technologies (And Much, Much More).
The
goal of all these products is to provide fast analysis of vast amounts
of data, such as that generated by clickstreams and XML inputs. The emphasis
is on the fast, since generating useful aggregated data for analytical
analysis in a reasonable (read really short) amount of time requires tremendous
system resources and well-designed software (including caching and parallel
processing capabilities). The vendor that provides the most painless solution
to this huge problem will realize greatly increased market share in the
e-Business arena and leverage to further refine their offerings, form
partnerships with system integrators, and become a preferred solution
for major consulting firms.
User
Recommendations
Customers evaluating data integration and analysis solutions should include
Informatica PowerCenter 5 on a long list of candidates. Some of the other
offerings that should be considered come from Ascential Software, IONA
Software, Sybase, Microsoft, and Oracle. Some of
the Enterprise Application Integration vendors such as webMethods
may also be considered. Care should be taken during the vendor RFI stage
of the selection process to ensure that the appropriate connectors (adapters,
interfaces) for the required software packages/platforms are supplied
"out of the box" (rather than implemented with custom consulting).