Oracle Corp has formed a strategic relationship with two companies in an attempt to speed up the time users spend implementing data marts. It has gone to Scottish software house Valstar Systems Ltd for its AppsMart data mart design and integration tool, and consultancy house The Data Warehouse Network for associated consultancy services. AppsMart has been developed by Valstar as an add-in module to the Oracle Data Mart Suite, and uses a template model so that templates from partner organizations specializing in vertical industries can be captured and customized for individual customers. Oracle has sponsored the first application specific data mart built using the tools, aimed at the retail banking sector. AppsMart uses Wizards to make the process of changing models easier. Valstar is a 14-year-old privately held company with around 60 employees. It has plans to offices across Europe, and on the West Coast in the US within the next six to nine months.
