EVALUATING OLAP ALTERNATIVES
by Joseph M. Firestone, Ph.D.

The rush to develop data warehouses and data marts has gained considerable momentum from the presence of server-based On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools, including: Multidimensional server-based (MDOLAP) tools; a number of Relational OLAP (or ROLAP) alternatives; and a new tool called Sybase IQ which uses a technology we can call Vertical Technology OLAP (VTOLAP). By now the gold rush in the OLAP marketplace is in full swing, with different products striving for both marginal differentiation and substantial technical and operational advantages over competitors.
 

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE EXPECTS HUGE GROWTH FOR BI TOOL USE

Prior to the Data Warehousing 2000 conference and exhibition, Business Intelligence Ltd (BI) has released exclusive research that reveals corporate IT managers expect huge growth in the usage of BI tools.
 

digiMine LAUNCHES FULL HOSTED DW/DM SERVICE

digiMine Inc announces the launch of the first business intelligence solution to fully integrate advanced data warehousing and data mining technologies and deliver them as a managed and hosted service.
 

FABER TO DEVELOP BI SOLUTIONS FOR CHICAGO TRIBUNE

The Chicago Tribune, Chicago's leading daily newspaper, has again turned to Faber Consulting for business intelligence (BI) solutions. Under a new agreement, Faber, a management consulting firm focused exclusively on the expanding data warehousing market, will develop a comprehensive BI system for the classified recruitment division of the Chicago Tribune.
 

I-Impact LAUNCHES MarketDrive FOR E-BUSINESS

I-Impact Inc, a leading provider of e-business analytics software, unveiled its flagship product, MarketDrive, the first practical application of Impact Analytics for e-businesses.
 

INFORMIX ESTABLISHES TWO INDEPENDENT OPERATING COMPANIES

Informix Corporation announced the final step in its strategic realignment which will involve the establishment of two independent operating companies. The first, Informix Software, will focus on providing database management systems for data warehousing, transaction processing, and e-Business applications. The second is a new e-Business solutions company being launched to focus on providing database and platform independent software solutions and infrastructure for the e-Business marketplace.
 

KEMPER INSURANCE SELECTS HNC'S NEW VeriComp Subro

The Kemper Insurance Companies has become the first company to license HNC Insurance Solutions' new VeriComp Subro software system. Using predictive technology originally developed by its parent company, HNC Software, VeriComp Subro automatically identifies and notifies carriers of claims with a high potential for subrogration.
 

NETGENESIS LAUNCHES NetGenesis 5, E-METRICS SOLUTIONS SUITE

NetGenesis Corp, a leading developer of e-customer intelligence solutions, announced the availability of the NetGenesis 5 E-Metrics Solutions Suite, a revolutionary analytic platform that provides unprecedented flexibility and power for business decision-makers.
 

VISIONYZE WEB-ENABLES ITS LEADING ANALYTIC APPS

Visionyze.com, a division of Speedware Corporation and a leading provider of global analytic applications and business intelligence solutions, announced the delivery of its next generation of analytic technology.
 

NCR LAUNCHES FIRST PRIVACY PRODUCT FOR THE DW INDUSTRY

NCR Corporation has launched the first product to help protect consumer privacy in the burgeoning data warehousing sector. The NCR Privacy Protector is a comprehensive suite of products and services designed to improve business-to-customer relationships by respecting consumers' privacy preferences.

Bluestone Software Licenses SequeLink 5.0 from Merant
Extending its commitment to deliver robust distributed transactioning systems, Bluestone Software Inc, a leader in business-to-Web and wireless technologies, announced that it has licensed SequeLink 5.0 data access technology from MERANT, a leading global e-business software solutions company.

Citibank Selects Montclair Financial Technology's Apps
Montclair Financial Technology (MFT) announced that Citibank Worldwide Security Services (WWSS) has chosen MFT's suite of applications to build Citibank's own Global Custody data warehouse.

Improved Profit with River Logic's COR Technology 3.0.0
River Logic Inc, a leading developer of technology and infrastructure for creating and managing 3rd Generation Internet Networks announced the release of COR Technology 3.0.0. COR Technology is the powerful foundation of River Logic's suite of business modeling and knowledge management/decision support applications.

e-Commerce Solutions Chooses MicroStrategy Technology
MicroStrategy Incorporated, a leading worldwide provider of Intelligent E- Business software, announced that e-Commerce Solutions has chosen MicroStrategy's Intelligent E-Business Platform to anchor its secure and confidential data warehousing system.

Unica Corporation Names Robert J. Halliday as CFO
Unica Corporation, a leading provider of analytical CRM and cross-channel marketing automation solutions, announced the appointment of Robert J. Halliday as Chief Financial Officer.

IBM Reasserts Lead in Scaleable BI Solutions
IBM announced that its Intel-based NUMA-Q Model E410 system, running DB2 Universal Database V7.1, is the industry's first server to demonstrate linear scaleability in the TPC-H benchmark at the 300 GB scale factor.

Birch Telecom Signs with ACE*COMM for DW Solution
ACE*COMM Corporation, the innovator of Convergent Mediation and provider of Next Generation Network (NGN) Operations Support Systems (OSS), announced that Birch Telecom has signed an agreement with ACE*COMM worth over $1.9 million, for its N*VISION data warehousing solution.

WhiteLight/Ideon Announce Strategic Partnership
WhiteLight Systems, a leading provider of next-generation analytical applications, announced a strategic partnership with Ideon Inc, a premier provider of business intelligence implementation services. Ideon will provide post-sales implementation and consulting services to WhiteLight customers.

Interelate Names Kurt Bertelsen CTO
Interelate, a leading customer intelligence application service provider (ASP), announced that Kurt Bertelsen has been promoted to chief technology officer. Bertelsen will assume responsibility for ensuring that Interelate's technology strategy is aligned with the company's business strategy.

Unica Appoints IBM's John Landry to Board of Directors
Unica Corporation, a leading provider of analytical CRM and marketing automation solutions, announced the appointment of technology and business innovator, John Landry, to its board of directors.

Maximal and TopINET Join Forces to Provide BI Solution
Maximal Innovative Intelligence Ltd, a leading provider of data analysis tools, announced that it has partnered with TopINET Inc to provide an easy-to-use decision support solution for retail chain management.

Metagenix Releases MetaRecon 2.4
Tightly incorporated with leading data migration tools, MetaRecon completely automates and integrates the process of building an EDM system. MetaRecon employs a sophisticated reverse engineering process to allow the user to load raw data into the software and automatically receive a complete analysis of the source data.

MindBox Announces Winners of Customer Innovation Awards
MindBox Inc, a worldwide leader in artificial intelligence applications that automate complex business and decision processes, announced HomeSide Lending, Countrywide Home Loans and Upland Mortgage to be the winners of its first annual MindBox Customer Innovation Awards.

Mindwave Research Selects SPSS Market Research Solutions
Web-based market research agency Mindwave Research Inc recently selected SPSS Inc's Quancept Web and Verbastat software solutions to enhance its Web- based research architecture and provide survey services via the Internet. The company conducts approximately 60 percent of its research using the Web.

Information Builders Partners with Morningstar Systems
Information Builders, the Web Business Intelligence company, announced a partnership with Morningstar Systems, a leading integrator of collaborative intranet and extranet business solutions based on Open Text's Livelink application.

SPSS/Informix Partner to Deliver Analytic CRM Solutions
SPSS Inc and Informix Corporation, a technology leader in software infrastructure for the i.Economy, announced a partnership that will enable customers in the telecommunications and online retail and e-commerce sectors to create more profitable customer relationships.

SteelEye Delivers LifeKeeper for Linux/Oracle 8i
SteelEye Technology Inc, a leading provider of reliability platforms for Linux-based eBusiness applications, announced the release of a High Availability (HA) Database Server Solution for Oracle 8i.

Subjex Develops Artificial Intelligent Dialogue Brain
Subjex, a Minneapolis-based technology company, announced the release of their artificial intelligent dialogue brain. Currently, Subjex is in the process of licensing negotiations with several prominent companies for this technology.

UniTree to Announce Nearline Product at DW 2000
UniTree Software - specialists in high end Unix nearline data storage and management - will announce its new UniTree Database Near Line (UDNL) product at Data Warehousing 2000.

GreyStone Provides Preview of New Virtual-Info-Space
GreyStone Digital Technology Inc provided a preview of its Virtual-Info- Space (VIS) prototype during the company's first annual shareholders' meeting held on Friday, September 15th at company headquarters in San Diego.

Symposium Corporation to Acquire WeFusion.com Inc
Symposium Corporation announced that it has reached agreement in principle to acquire WeFusion.com Inc, an application service provider (ASP) which has developed a database architecture enabling sophisticated customer profiling that Symposium will utilize to personalize the marketing of products and services to its existing and newly acquired customers.

"Companies with privacy policies that include notice, choice, access and security will be perceived as more trustworthy and will be in a better position to gain customers and improve branding. Those that fail to recognize this will lose trust and suffer the consequences."

• Peter J. Reid, vice president of NCR's Privacy Center of Expertise

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