BMC Software and D2K Partner to Deliver Mainframe Change Data Capture to Open Systems Environments
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D2K Incorporated, an enterprise data warehouse vendor specializing in data extraction, transformation and loading, has aligned with BMC Software to deliver data propagation from MVS (multiple virtual storage). The joint solution simplifies integrating mainframe data into a data warehouse, enhances performance of the overall data warehouse by extracting and moving only changed data, enables the ability to perform powerful transformations and automates the synchronization of changed data from MVS into a data warehouse or data mart.

Previously, high volume operational data in MVS was 'off limits' for warehouse use. This was due to extract processing times that exceeded the limited batch window and business conditions that required nearly 24 x 7 OLTP availability. Now, MVS OLTP data can be more easily integrated and delivered to Unix and Windows NT based data warehouse environments where it can be cleansed, enriched, joined, aggregated and transformed for use by business professionals. The result of the integration is a comprehensive, high performance solution for capturing and propagating legacy data to data warehouses and data marts running on open systems and NT databases.

For organizations requiring an ODS ("operational data store") image of their mainframe, this solution is ideal. BMC Software's EDP products can be used to efficiently load and refresh a very large ODS, and can be used to maintain it using incremental change technology. Thus the ODS is maintained on a continual basis with only minutes or seconds of latency form the updates to the operational system. D2K's Tapestry further enhances the solution by delivering staging area support. Not only does the staging area provide warehouse management for the ODS, it enables synchronized delivery of its contents to distributed data marts. This is especially helpful in organizations in which multiple departments are relying on the mainframe data, but require it to be integrated with information from other sources.

In addition, D2K provides automated scheduling capabilities. "D2K's scheduling feature automates the process of managing snapshots and data synchronization in the warehouse. This empowers the user with the ability to define the process once and have the Tapestry engine manage the extract, transform, and load from then on," stated Nancy Harris, director of product marketing data availability for BMC Software. Ed Young, president and CEO, of D2K states, "BMC's change data propagation strategy for MVS is very strong. Combining BMC's mainframe expertise with D2K's ability to serve enterprise data warehouse needs is extremely powerful."

Two new products, ChangeDataMove and DataReach, are included in the recent announcement of BMC Software's EDP Strategy. ChangeDataMove provides highly efficient, transaction-based change capture for DB2 for OS/390, IMS, CICS VSAM and VSAM batch applications with near real time or scheduled propagation of the captured changes to DB2 for OS/390 and to Oracle on Unix. The product is a high performance solution designed to support operational applications executing hundreds of transactions per second.

For IMS and VSAM, ChangeDataMove is unique because it does not use logs or require any changes to an existing application's logging strategy to capture changes.

DataReach Version 2.1 was developed through a partnership between BMC Software and EMC Corporation and provides a new approach for moving DB2 for OS/390 data to Oracle, Sybase and Informix databases on Unix systems. DataReach, while executing on a Unix host, uses EMC Symmetrix storage to directly access MVS DB2 data. The data transfers are performed at channel speeds, no mainframe overhead is involved and no network traffic is generated. As a result, DataReach accomplishes a move and load to the target system 10 to 100 times faster than typical network solutions.

D2K Inc. delivers data warehouse solutions for ERP environments. D2K (Data to Knowledge) is headquartered in San Jose, California. Sales and development labs are located in San Jose and Singapore. For more information, see http://www.d2k.com

BMC Software Inc. is an industry leader in delivering Application Service Assurance (ASA) solutions enterprise-level software and support that improves the availability, performance and recovery of critical applications and data in complex computing environments. BMC Software is a Forbes 500 company, with revenues exceeding $730 million in fiscal 1998. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with offices worldwide. For more information, see http://www.bmc.com