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Once a traditional EAI (enterprise application integration) software provider known primarily for its “bus” model of integration, TIBCO is adding another layer to its platform—and making strides to compete with the likes of IBM in the areas of data and mainframe integration.
TIBCO Software Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., announced Monday its new namesake DataExchange product for data integration—a key technology for companies as they look to integrate data across and outside their business for projects like RFID (radio-frequency identification) deployment.
TIBCOs DataExchange essentially supports ETL (extraction, transformation and loading), functionality that does pretty much what it says: The extraction function extracts data from various sources; the transform function uses rules to convert the data to a preferred format; and the load function writes the data to another database in real time, batch format, or a combination of the two.
Rather than build the technology from scratch, TIBCO is using code from Embarcadero Technologies Inc., a San Francisco-based company that provides a number of integration software products.
TIBCO will utilize Embarcaderos DT/Studio, a suite of tools that combines visual data modeling with a visual data flow designer on a Java-based ETL engine.
The DT/Studio functionality will be added to TIBCOs BusinessWorks integration platform.
IBM, which has its own broad-based WebSphere integration portfolio, is also making a data integration play.
The company announced March 14 that it intends to acquire Ascential Software Corp. for $1.1 billion.
The deal, expected to close in April subject to approvals, will bring IBM not only ETL tools, but also additional capabilities for data transformation, cleansing, profiling and high speed data placement.
The idea in combining IBM and Ascentials software is to enable users to better integrate, structure and manage data, officials said.
TIBCO took another stab at IBM on March 9, when the company quietly acquired native mainframe integration developer ObjectStar International in order to better compete with IBMs mainframe integration products, TIBCO officials said in a statement.
ObjectStars software helps users to integrate new applications with legacy mainframe systems.
TIBCOs last major acquisition was in April 2004, when the company acquired business process management and workflow software developer Staffware plc. for $217 million.
That purchase added business process management capabilities to TIBCOs integration technology and brought TIBCO into the emerging arena of process integration.