Informatica Launches Data Integration Service in the Cloud

Data integration software provider Informatica has released a beta version of its new PowerCenter Cloud Edition, an enterprise-level data integration tool that can run in the cloud on Amazon Elastic Cloud 2.

An earlier version of PowerCenter, released in 2006, is currently available as a stand-alone, on-site application.

PowerCenter Cloud Edition, which became available on July 23, uses Amazon EC2, Amazon SimpleDB and Amazon S3 (storage) to provide access to enterprise data sources such as relational databases, flat files and SAAS (software-as-a-service) applications.

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As cloud computing services continue to move into daily production use, organizations often collect and manage data in disconnected silos that include data centers, handheld devices, individual workstations, cloud services and other SAAS offerings.

IT managers are increasingly looking for automated help in trying to maintain control of large systems, so a reliable cross-platform, all-enterprise data integration tool or service can become a valuable asset.

The original PowerCenter already has several thousand users, Girish Pancha, Informatica vice president and general manager of data integration, told eWEEK.

"Informatica was an early believer in cloud computing and pioneered both cross-enterprise data integration with remote connectivity for software-as-a-service vendors and integration-as-a-service with Informatica On Demand services," Pancha said.

"With PowerCenter Cloud Edition, our customers now can get the best of both [on-site and cloud] worlds: lowering their total cost of ownership with cloud computing infrastructure, while gaining a competitive advantage from [the use of] all their data."

Pay as You Go: $24.95 per Hour

Pancha said that the pay-as-you-use model for the cloud service runs $24.95 per hour. The pricing model for the on-site version is more complicated in that it depends upon the specific configuration. However, he told eWEEK a base price of about $165,000 for perpetual licensing could serve as a guideline.

Informatica On Demand was rated Best Data Integration App of 2008 by Salesforce.com customers and is in use by more than 250 companies, Pancha said.

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