Compagnie des Machines Bull SA has got aboard the data warehouse bandwaggon with the launch of its Distributed Data Warehouse suite, which it claims is better than anything offered by its rivals. The suite comprises Access, Integration and Replication applications. Access, as the name suggests, gives users direct access to enterprise-wide databases, Integration pulls the data from various systems into a unified image for Unix systems and Replication creates a separate data warehouse for data integrity and security purposes. Sylvia Summers, vice-president of distributed computing solutions in the Open Systems & Software division at Bull reckons that the software has key points that differentiate it from its rivals. It is supposedly more open than IBM Corp, database-independent unlike Oracle Corp, get quicker results than Prism Solutions Inc’s offerings, claimed Summers. SAS Institute Inc, which specialises in data warehousing was however passed over. The company claimed that the Access, Integration and Replication software can be installed in 10, 20 and 30 days respectively, but the while the first two are available now, Replication is not out until next month. The cost of the three elements is obviously dependent on the type of customer, but Access would be in the range $10,000 to $20,000; Integration would be $40,000 to $100,000, and Replication would be between $120,000 and $200,000. The Distributed Data Warehouse is Open Database Connectivity- and Open SQL-compliant, and supports IBM Corp’s DB2, IMS and VSAM, Digital Equipment Corp’s (now Oracle Corp’s) Rdb and DEC’s RMS, Oracle, CA-Ingres, Sybase and Informix, as well as Bull’s GCOS IDS II, RFM and UFAS mainframe systems.
