Event
Summary
Informix has announced a strategic alliance with Applied Data Resource
Management (ADRM) to develop industry-specific data models to provide
packaged analytic components for business intelligence and e-business
analytics. The alliance was originally discussed with Ardent Software
before their merger with Informix. ADRM currently supports over 10 industries
with 23 lines of business and 30 subject areas, which they refer to as
"data environments".
ADRM's
current client list includes the U.S. Navy, Kraft Foods, and New York
Life. The first package to be released by Informix was announced at SAP's
SAPPHIRE conference in Las Vegas this month, and is aimed at the consumer
packaged goods industry. The demonstration was conducted using Ardent's
DataStage product, an Oracle database, and Brio as a front-end query tool.
"In
the past few years, the Internet economy has impacted nearly every industry.
To effectively compete in business-to-consumer and business-to-business
Web-driven markets, organizations require powerful analytic architectures
that enable them to transform corporate data into useful information,"
said Pete Fiore, vice president and general manager, i.Intelligence business
group, Informix. "With these packaged analytic offerings, Informix is
making it easier and more efficient to deploy the type of industry-specific
information architecture that companies will need for competitive advantage
in their markets."
"With
these highly customizable and flexible sets of components, organizations
will have faster, increased access to their data resources, enabling them
to better recognize and address the market needs of their specific industries,"
added Mikael Wipperfeld, vice president, i.Intelligence business group,
Informix.
Market
Impact
The move towards vertical market templates by Informix mirrors the efforts
being made by Sybase to penetrate specific industries with pre-defined
("canned") applications which can be quickly implemented to provide rapid
return on investment. The packages also support standard query and reporting
tools, including Informix's Visionary data visualization tool (see "A
Visionary of Loveliness", April 20, 2000 for more information).
In
the new Internet economy, quick turnaround on IT initiatives to provide
business intelligence has proven to be a key to success. Informix's attempt
to speed implementation in vertical markets is a necessary move in order
to continue to compete for business with Internet-centric firms. Their
initial effort is aimed at consumer packaged goods, but they intend to
offer other verticals in the near future (retail and telecommunications
are scheduled for the summer of 2000). These will also be linked to the
SAP platform since Informix's Ardent DataStage product already has the
capability to read from SAP and write to SAP BW (SAP's Business Information
Warehouse). (For further details on this product see "Ardent
Software Enters the SAP Data Extraction Market", September 13, 1999).
User
Recommendations
Companies in the packaged consumer goods industry may be able to realize
very quick return on investment with this product. Potential customers
in other vertical markets should discuss the possibility of adding support
for their industry to the product suite. It is often common for vendors
to add functionality only when requested by a potential customer, so it
is not wise to wait and see if your particular vertical is added.
In
the software vendor world, it is typically "ask and ye shall receive (maybe)".
In addition, customers may be able to negotiate a reduction in the price
of the software if they provide assistance in the development of the vertical
analytics for their industry. Informix will undoubtedly sell the model
to other customers, so it is also in their interest to team with the company
to develop the software.