Avaki Redefines Enterprise-Wide Data Integration with Avaki 5.0 and Enterprise Data Integration Framework
Avaki Redefines Enterprise-Wide Data Integration with Avaki 5.0 and Enterprise Data Integration Framework
BURLINGTON, Mass. - April 13, 2004 - Delivering on its promise to provide an enterprise-wide framework for data integration, Avaki Corporation today announced general availability of Avaki 5.0, enterprise information integration (EII) software that provides a data service layer to streamline data access and integration for a wide range of applications. Now, for the first time, companies can deploy a powerful and flexible data integration solution that scales enterprise wide.
Avaki 5.0 delivers significant data integration enhancements that further simplify the provisioning, access and integration of data from multiple, heterogeneous, distributed sources. It also debuts the Enterprise Data Integration Framework, a set of capabilities that enables customers to bring all their data integration efforts under one enterprise-wide umbrella - increasing data availability and reducing the cost and complexity of data integration. The company also announced that California-based Pacific Capital Bancorp is among several new customers that have selected Avaki software as a core data architecture component. Avaki is helping companies across many industries, including Pacific Capital Bancorp, respond more nimbly to market demands and execute critical IT projects more quickly. "Avaki software is helping Pacific Capital Bancorp make better, more strategic use of data, which is critical to running our banks efficiently and providing better service to our customers," said William Grimm, CIO at Pacific Capital Bancorp. "To meet our aggressive business goals we must deploy key applications quickly for our branches and our central operations. We could not do this in such a straightforward and cost-effective way without Avaki as the foundation of our data architecture."
Several New Data Integration Capabilities Expand Range of Options
Avaki 5.0 adds a number of new, powerful data integration features that support a wider range of integration approaches, assist architects in creating integration logic, and provide the ability to interoperate with third-party data tools. These features include: * Two new integration service constructs, the Data Service and the Data Grid Query, which significantly expand the ways data can be transformed, aggregated, and integrated using Avaki software. * Tools for creating these integrations in a streamlined, visual way, through integration with products from Altova Corporation combined with Avaki's ability to generate XML schema for Avaki data catalog entries.
Judith Hurwitz of Hurwitz & Associates said, "Data integration complexity delays too many application projects today. Avaki provides a data services layer which is an important component in helping companies to leverage data across stove-piped applications and data sources."
The Data Service enables any data integration logic, including Java, XSL or third-party tools, to be flexibly packaged and provisioned to execute transformations and integrations dynamically using data from multiple, disparate distributed data sources. Data Services enable right-time integration and processing of data from relational and file-based data sources, facilitating, for example, the creation of a composite view of the customer from multiple, heterogeneous data sources. Another key integration feature is the Data Grid Query, a query defined in Avaki to execute against multiple databases, creating integrated result sets that can then be further transformed and integrated if necessary. Data Services, Data Grid Queries, and other Avaki data integration features can be used separately or together to satisfy a wide range of data integration requirements.
To assist architects in creating data integration logic for Data Services, Avaki 5.0 generates XML schema to provide metadata for registered data sources. Finally, Avaki integrates seamlessly with Altova Mapforce, an industry-leading data integration development tool. Integration with these products, combined with the availability of XML schema, enables architects to quickly define transformations and integrations by visually mapping data sources and targets, then automatically generating integration logic in XSL or Java to create the Data Service. With this powerful combination, Avaki gives architects an efficient, flexible way to define and deploy modular, reusable data integrations.
Avaki's Enterprise Data Integration Framework Offers Control and Flexibility
Avaki's Enterprise Data Integration Framework enables companies to realize the full potential of investments in enterprise data, data integration, and related tools by controlling all data integration efforts under one umbrella. The Enterprise Data Integration Framework is a set of capabilities that helps customers address their increasingly complex integration challenges with a solution that can scale across the enterprise. It is designed to meet the needs of CIOs and other IT leaders who are spending too much time and money on disparate, project-driven data integration initiatives and want to implement efficiencies without losing flexibility.
Dr. Philip Russom, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research said, "Data integration requires architecture. IT has made great strides imposing architectural order on data integration chaos-but one integration silo at a time. Now the challenge is to implement an enterprise-scope data integration architecture that spans multiple projects, technologies, and vendor products." Enterprise Architecture for Distributed Data Integration Webcast, Dr. Philip Russom, March 18, 2004.
Within the Framework, Avaki integration features work alongside a company's custom integration code and third-party data integration tools, including tools for ETL, data cleansing, data profiling, and others, giving architects a coordinated powerhouse of capabilities and the freedom to choose the right tool for the project at hand. Avaki surrounds data and integrations with a unified data provisioning and access layer, a single data service through which applications can access any data needed. No single data integration approach or tool can provide everything architects need, and most don't span multiple projects or support multiple integration strategies. Avaki's Enterprise Data Integration Framework helps companies realize the full potential of their investments by providing the best of both worlds: the flexibility of multiple approaches and tools with the control provided by a single data service layer.
Avaki 5.0 Supports Diverse Application Solutions
With Avaki 5.0, companies in a variety of industries can more efficiently integrate and deliver data for key business applications. Avaki is most valuable when companies must integrate data from multiple, heterogeneous, distributed sources. For example,
Companies creating corporate performance dashboards use Avaki to ensure that the most current data is presented to decision makers, regardless of data format or origin, and make applications easier to maintain over time as new data sources become available.
Enterprise reporting and business intelligence efforts benefit from Avaki's ability to complement business intelligence and reporting tools by making data from multiple, heterogeneous, distributed sources available through a single data service layer, providing data in the formats needed to meet diverse requirements.
For companies grappling with customer data integration in order to improve customer service and marketing, Avaki offers a flexible way to create a composite view of the customer using data from multiple sources. With integrated customer data, companies can serve their customers more effectively and take advantage of opportunities to cross- or up-sell in a targeted way.
Other Major Enhancements Include Web Services Interface
Along with new data integration capabilities, Avaki 5.0 provides enhancements in several other areas that extend the value of the data service layer and enable customers to take full advantage of the benefits it provides. These include: * Web Services Interface. Avaki enables applications to automatically access data through a Web Services (SOAP) interface. Once a data resource has been registered in the data catalog, a Web Services client with appropriate permissions can take advantage of the data service layer to access the data without any additional work.
Ability to Audit Data Use. Companies can use Avaki to capture information about who is using what data. This is an important requirement for regulatory compliance, process improvement efforts, and internal management feedback and controls.
Wider Range of Caching Options. A wider range of options is available for both scheduled and on-demand caching, helping companies deliver data efficiently to consuming applications and ensure the availability of the freshest possible data.
Enhanced Load Balancing and Failover. Companies can now balance the processing of data transformation and integration across multiple processors to optimize performance, and can take advantage of a wider range of failover options to maximize data availability.
Full Speed Ahead
"With Avaki 5.0, we are delivering a uniquely powerful and flexible enterprise data integration solution," said Tim Yeaton, President and CEO of Avaki Corporation. "Each day, the companies we work with are confirming the value of a data service layer in shortening their projects and reducing costs. To be sure, Avaki 5.0 is an important milestone for us. Through our own capabilities and in cooperation with our business partners, we'll continue to broaden the range of integration features, and provide an even richer, more productive environment for delivering data integration capabilities across an entire organization."