Informatica Announces Next-Generation PowerCenter 5

Informatica Corporation, a leading provider of eBusiness analytic software, announced the availability of Informatica PowerCenter 5, an enterprise data integration platform for the deployment and management of analytic applications and data warehouses. Based on the company's patented technology, the Informatica PowerCenter 5 suite is a high-performance, scalable platform designed to meet the most demanding requirements of global companies and rapidly growing eBusinesses.

"Large-scale enterprise and eBusiness customers face unique challenges: more data in more complex environments with less time to get it right," said Gaurav Dhillon, president and 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, PowerCenter 5 and 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, 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 eBusiness data types, such as XML and clickstream. Together, these connectivity options allow companies to integrate their disparate operations while leveraging their existing IT investments.

"The ability to deliver insight from a variety of information sources is critical, and Informatica is enabling businesses to turn tactical data into strategic knowledge," said Kirsten Cloninger, industry analyst at Cahners InStat.

"The previous version of our platform technology is already in use by more than 1,100 customers and 30 OEMs around the world. Over the past six months, more than 40 enterprise customers have tested the beta versions of the new release, and their invaluable input has allowed us to push the boundaries of technical capabilities and performance," said Girish Pancha, senior vice president and general manager of platform technologies at Informatica.

The new Informatica PowerCenter 5 platform delivers three key benefits to businesses:

• eBusiness integration: Informatica PowerCenter 5 provides comprehensive integration of eBusiness data with a wide range of enterprise data sources, such as IBM MQSeries, Siebel, PeopleSoft, SAP R/3 and Web logs. Data sources from eBusiness are effectively integrated through the ability to directly source and target XML inside the core technology.
• Extensibility: Informatica PowerCenter 5 is an open, metadata-driven solution that grows with business needs and provides robust tools to enhance developer productivity, and APIs for OEMs and third-party developers. The platform's flexible, extensible architecture is designed to meet all needs -- from enterprise-wide implementations to departmental data marts.
• Scalable performance: The high-performance Informatica PowerCenter 5 platform supports the data integration needs of the most demanding enterprises. Its parallel-processing and data-caching capabilities allow PowerCenter 5 to handle ever-increasing volumes of data in near real time.

"We are excited about the new and enhanced functionality we've seen in the latest version of the Informatica data integration platform," said Chuck Teller, vice president and general manager of PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management business analytics. "The ability to more efficiently integrate eBusiness data into an analytic environment as well as improved scalability and extensibility are powerful enhancements that stand to greatly benefit our joint customers."

The Informatica Insight Network combines the company's award-winning data integration platform and analytic applications with wireless, voice and Web delivery technologies. This network allows companies to integrate data from disparate sources, analyze the information consistently across businesses, and deliver personalized, timely insight to a wide range of corporate information consumers via PC and Web portal, and soon via cell phone or PDA. The Informatica Insight Network complements and leverages companies' existing transactional systems -- such as ERP, CRM, supply chain management, procurement and eCommerce -- which have enabled operational efficiencies and generated a wealth of data containing potential untapped business insight.

About Informatica

Informatica provides eBusiness analytic software that enables companies to leverage business insight for competitive advantage. More than 1,100 global customers, including over half of the Fortune 100, leverage the Informatica Insight Network to integrate, analyze and personalize critical business information to improve business performance and responsiveness across the entire business value chain. Informatica products include a comprehensive family of analytic applications, the industry's most powerful data integration platform, and a wide range of supporting services and partnerships. The company's list of leading customers includes 3Com, AMD, American Airlines, BMW, Boeing, Chevron, Cisco, CNET, Deutsche Bank, eBay, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Inktomi, Merck, Merrill Lynch, MetLife, Motorola, Philips, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sprint, and UBS. For more information, call 1-800-970-1179, or visit the Informatica Web site at www.informatica.com.

Contact Alexandra Sullivan, Applied Communications, 415-265-0222 x272, asullivan@appliedcom.com.