Microsoft Revamps Data Warehousing Alliance to Benefit Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Customers
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Microsoft Corp. has announced that 20 top vendors throughout the industry are supporting new technical specifications for the Microsoft Data Warehousing Framework, an open architecture for data warehouse solution development, through participation in the expanded Microsoft Data Warehousing Alliance. Broad vendor support for the new specifications will make it easier for customers to build flexible solutions on Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 that simplify the design, implementation and management of data warehouses while lowering the total cost of ownership.

The Data Warehousing Alliance helps shape Microsoft's emerging data warehousing criteria, APIs and the industry-leading features of innovative products that include Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. Companies supporting the Framework and Alliance include Appsco Software Ltd., Ardent Software, Brio Technology Inc., Business Objects SA, Cognos Corp., Comshare, Data Junction, Datawatch, Decisionism Inc., Evolutionary Technologies International, Informatica, Knosys, Platinum Technologies Inc., Portola Dimensional Systems, Prism Solutions Inc., Sagent Technology Inc., Seagate Software, Speedware Corporation Inc., TopTier and Wall Data Inc. These organizations will begin delivering applications built upon the new Framework as early as the fourth quarter of 1998.

The Data Warehousing Framework, a technical road map that enables customers to integrate data warehousing tools from multiple vendors, makes optimal use of technologies such as the Microsoft Repository, OLE DB, Data Transformation Services and OLAP Services that are integrated components of SQL Server 7.0.

"The new technical requirements for Alliance vendors demonstrate Microsoft's commitment to creating low-cost interoperable solutions," said Wayne Eckerson, vice president of technology services at the Data Warehousing Institute. "In effect, the Alliance will make it easier for companies of all sizes and types to deploy data warehouses and business intelligence applications."

These top vendors represent every major segment of the data warehousing industry, including database design; query, reporting and analysis; extraction, transformation and load; analytical applications; datamart suites; and management tools. In addition, more than 40 more companies have requested the Alliance criteria and are actively seeking qualification.

"With the expanded Data Warehousing Alliance and the technology delivered with SQL Server 7.0, Microsoft delivers on its commitment to improve software vendor integration through industry specifications in the data warehousing process," said Perry Mizota, vice president of marketing at Sagent Technology. "Sagent is committed to being among the first vendors with full adoption of these standards, ensuring our customers a seamless fit as we enable them to deploy data mart-based applications to the Web."

Microsoft's new Alliance criteria call for compliance with technical standards, including OLE DB for data exchange and Microsoft Repository for sharing metadata, that make it easier to integrate tools and products from multiple vendors and to use them together easily. The new criteria are available online at
http://microsoft.com/industry/bi/initiatives/dwa/dwa.stm For more information on Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and solutions based on it, visit the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/beta/