Data Marts Get Translator
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As part of an initiative to break down the language barriers that complicate international business operations, Uniscape this month will deliver the first of a series of multilingual data analysis tools that will allow business managers to analyze data, regardless of its original language.

For example, a business manager will be able to query three separate data mart applications written in Japanese, French, and English, and have the results from those queries displayed in English.

The first element of the Uniscape package, called NetDialect, is scheduled to be unveiled this week. NetDialect is a Web-enabled version of the company's existing language translation tool. Following the release of NetDialect, Uniscape this spring will launch its main Global Vision product, which enables developers to create 38KB multilingual data-mart applications in Java.

Industry analysts said that as business operations become more worldwide in nature, the development of multilingual tools will become a higher priority across the industry.

"When you want to do [electronic commerce] in the global economy, you need to be able to run your applications in a localized way," said Steve Garone, program director for application development tools at International Data Corp., a market research company in Framingham, Mass.

Pricing for NetDialect, which will be available this quarter, starts at $60,000.

Uniscape Inc., in Redwood Shores, Calif., can be reached at http://www.uniscape-inc.com.