SAP Buys Data Integration Software Developer

SAP AG quietly acquired a small data integration software developer, Callixa Inc., several months ago that it will use as a core component of its NetWeaver platform, according to SAP officials.

Callixas technology is "around helping customers with the overall data challenge," said SAP spokesman Bill Wohl, at the companys U.S. headquarters in Newtown Square, Pa. "The challenge is to get a unified cleanse of data, and in the same way you have to go out and look for data in a number of places. This enables users to get access to data in a number of places. This enables users to get access to data quickly."

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The acquisition of Callixa, for an undisclosed sum, brings to SAP distributed query processing technology that, as part of the infrastructure layer, enables developers to write queries to disparate data sources and have a unified response returned. The subsequent information is used, in a broad sense, in business intelligence, reporting and analytics applications—an area SAP and its competitors are pushing heavily into.

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SAP already has a deal with MetaMatrix to license its similar EEI technology (though MetaMatrix also brings repository capabilities and master data management), technology that SAP plans to phase out with Callixa in its stead.

"Because we think this is much more important to us as an internal, embedded solution, [an acquisition] is a better long-term solution," said Wohl.

The handful of employees that made up Callixa have been absorbed into the SAP organization.

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