On Yahoo
Hummingbird to Support Informatica's Advanced MXII Metadata
Exchange Architecture
Tighter integration will empower business intelligence customers with better understanding of data
in corporate data marts, save organizations money
TORONTO, July 21 /CNW-PRN/ - Hummingbird Communications Ltd. (TSE: ''HUM'' and NASDAQ: ''HUMCF''), a
world leading enterprise software company, today announces support for the next-generation Metadata Exchange (MXII)
architecture from Informatica Corporation, the industry's leading provider of software for enabling business intelligence and
analytic application for the enterprise. Hummingbird will support MXII's application programming interface (API), enabling tight
integration of business metadata created by Hummingbird GQL, its query and reporting application, and PaBLO, its universal
OLAP client tool, with business, technical and OLAP metadata created by PowerMart 4.5.
PowerMart is the latest version of Informatica's flagship software for building and managing departmental data marts and data
warehouses. The integration between it and Hummingbird's business intelligence suite enables customers to better understand
the data in their corporate data stores without having to understand the underlying structure of the database.
The MXII architecture builds on the work accomplished since Informatica launched its Metadata Exchange (MX) Architecture
more than a year ago. The initial MX project addressed the challenge of integrating decision support metadata, or ''data about
data,'' between data warehouse repositories and desktop online analytical processing (OLAP), query and access tools. Through
automated generation of metadata, the MX architecture has substantially reduced IT managers' time and effort involved in
creating robust user reporting environments, and answering subsequent user questions.
MX is now undergoing a transition to support business intelligence systems and analytic applications - like those offered by
Hummingbird - through a more powerful, object-oriented framework based on Microsoft's Component Object Model (COM)
technology. It will also comply with the Universal Modeling Language (UML) standard currently supported by Microsoft,
Informatica and other industry-leading IT companies.
Thanks to Hummingbird's participation in the MXII architecture program, customers will benefit in a variety of ways.
- Using GQL and PaBLO to access and analyze the data in an Informatica
data mart will be even faster and easier.
- Users can use metadata to better understand the corporate data they're
querying against. This makes users more productive, because they can
spend less time learning and more time analyzing.
- More intuitive data access means the IT department spends less time
answering user questions, and more time on actual administration. This
results in cost savings for the enterprise.
''By funneling information from Informatica's PowerMart repository to GQL data models using the MX architecture, our
customers realize shortened query times and simplified business intelligence environments,'' says Ron Spencer, Hummingbird's
vice president of Research & Development, Business Intelligence Group. ''The MXII architecture will increase the level of
integration between Informatica and Hummingbird products and significantly enhance the benefits - such as quick data mart
deployment and minimal front-end development work - that our mutual customers already enjoy. In short, the partnership
between our companies helps decision makers use Hummingbird's tools to get the most out of their data mart more quickly and
cost-effectively.''
''Users need access to both the technical and business metadata within their warehousing environment to make accurate, timely
and effective business decisions,'' says Diaz Nesamoney, president and CTO for Informatica. ''We are pleased Hummingbird
has stepped up to work with Informatica to meet this metadata integration challenge. Our work with Hummingbird will extend
the ability of Informatica's Metadata Exchange Architecture to deliver enterprise metadata to the desktop.''
About Informatica
Informatica Corp. develops and markets enterprise software products and services that enable many of the world's largest
companies to deploy business intelligence and analytic applications across the enterprise - from workgroups or departments
requiring a single application data mart, to large corporations deploying enterprise-wide decision support solutions. Informatica
has more than 280 customers worldwide, and maintains strategic partnerships with Cambridge Technology Partners
[Nasdaq:CATP - news], EDS, Ernst & Young, Geac, KPMG, Microsoft Corp. [Nasdaq:MSFT - news], Price Waterhouse
Coopers LLP, SAP AG and Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG. Informatica is headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., and
distributes its products through a network of direct and indirect sales channels covering the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
For more information, call (800) 653-3871, or visit Informatica's corporate Web site at informatica.com.
About Hummingbird
Hummingbird Communications Ltd. specializes in the development of enterprise software solutions, including network
connectivity and business intelligence products that provide high performance access to internetwork-based information and
applications. Hummingbird products are sold and supported internationally by authorized resellers in more than 40 countries.
The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices strategically located throughout Canada and the United States,
Australia, Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.
Hummingbird GQL and Hummingbird PaBLO are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hummingbird Communications Ltd.
or its subsidiaries. Informatica, PowerCenter and PowerMart are trademarks of Informatica Corporation. All other products or
company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
|
