Ardent Launches DataStage Release 4.0

Informix Corporation, a technology leader in the software infrastructure for the i.Economy, announced the immediate availability of Ardent DataStage Release 4.0, a industry leading business intelligence (BI) infrastructure platform. Ardent DataStage Release 4.0 enables dot-coms and large-scale enterprises to leverage e-commerce data for business-critical decision support.

"Dot-com and not-com companies alike now find themselves competing in a rapidly expanding information-based economy with an 'entry-fee' that includes a solid set of integrated information infrastructure technologies spanning ecommerce and analytics," said Doug Laney, META Group vice president. "Ideal solutions of this nature include components for data quality assurance, scaleable data movement and open meta data management - each Internet data warehouse enabled." According to Mikael Wipperfeld, vice president, marketing at Informix Software, "the enhancements in Ardent DataStage Release 4.0 provide dot-com and global 2000 companies with the business intelligence infrastructure solutions they need to successfully compete in the Internet economy. With this release we have extended Ardent DataStage's Web intelligence capabilities and enhanced the solution's extensibility and functionality across the enterprise."

Feature Highlights

New features in Ardent DataStage Release 4.0 provide improved e-business functionality, including support for clickstream analysis, and tools for capturing and managing Internet-based data; greater scalability; and improved developer productivity.

Highlights include:

• Ardent DataStage ClickPack, which provides access to Web server log data from Apache, IIS, and Netscape servers for clickstream analysis, support for email data extraction and transformation, and native support for existing Perl applications
• The industry's first standard XML Document Type Definition (DTD) for Extraction, Transformation, and Transport (ETT) meta data
• Ardent DataStage XML Pack support for reading and writing XML data and publishing meta data reports to XML documents
• More user control of the execution environment and sophisticated versioning control, supporting large-scale transformation processes across the enterprise

"In order to maintain our high level of customer service we needed an information infrastructure that could quickly and efficiently manage data from a variety of sources," said David Shapland, director, IT systems at Hertz Lease Europe. "DataStage Release 4.0, with its enhanced analytics capabilities, functionality, usability and scalability, was the perfect solution for managing our complex, Internet-based data warehouse, enabling us to shift our focus from IT problems to customer satisfaction." Ardent DataStage Suite is a data transformation and integration solution supporting ebusiness, data warehousing, enterprise portal, and business intelligence applications. Ardent DataStage provides native access and data transformation functionality in mainframe, client/server, and Internet environments; data quality assurance capabilities; Internet business data integration and Web analytics; and full lifecycle meta data management; all complemented by industry-leading methodologies and professional services.

Availability

Ardent DataStage Release 4.0 is available today. Supported platforms include Microsoft Windows NT and Sun Solaris. All other major UNIX implementations will be shipping within 60 days. For more information about the Ardent DataStage SAP-enabled products, visit the Informix Web site at www.informix.com.

About Informix

Based in Menlo Park, CA, Informix Software is a technology leader in software infrastructure solutions for the Internet. Informix is the first and only company to integrate e-commerce and business intelligence on a true Internet infrastructure. Informix provides a fast, simple and complete way to bring businesses to the Web. The company`s solutions can personalize content management, and analyze information real-time. This, with Informix`s highly scalable Web engines and media asset management capabilities, gives their customers a unique competitive advantage. For more information, contact the sales office nearest you or visit our Web site www.informix.com.