ETL is all about taking usually large volumes of data from one or more data sources, transforming it into a suitable format and loading it into a data warehouse where it can be analyzed.
While some ETL tools require a separate server to act as the transformational engine between the databases and the target data warehouse, Sunopsis handles the transformation at the database layer, hence calling its technology ELT instead of ETL.
Oracle said it will make Sunopsis’ technology part of its Fusion Middleware suite, and by doing so will bolster what it calls its hot-pluggable suite with support for both Oracle and non-Oracle data sources and targets. It said it would make Sunopsis an integrated part of service-oriented architecture (SOA), business intelligence, and master data management (MDM) offerings from Oracle.
The acquisition begs the question as to where this leaves the relationship between Oracle and one of Sunopsis’ closest rivals, Informatica – a relationship that came about after Oracle bought Siebel, since today Siebel Analytic Applications (since renamed Oracle Business Intelligence Applications) use Informatica’s ETL product, PowerCenter, for ETL.
But Oracle’s Fusion Middleware vice president, Rik Schultz, insisted that, We have an ongoing relationship with Informatica which is quite strong, and in fact we recently renewed it. This move [acquiring Sunopsis] is about a broader solution set for SOA, BI and MDM, whereas our relationship with Informatica is more around the analytic applications for BI only.
Schultz said that the company will absolutely continue to support current customers who have the Informatica product in their Siebel Analytic Applications. Informatica could not be contacted for further comment in the short time available before ComputerWire went to press.
Oracle already had an ETL tool of its own, called Oracle Warehouse Builder. However while this has a similar architecture to the acquired Sunopsis product – the transformation part of ETL happening at the database layer instead of at a separate staging server as with some ETL tools – it is only able to handle loading of data into an Oracle Data Warehouse. What Sunopsis brings to the table is the ability to load data into heterogeneous data warehouses and marts, from heterogeneous data sources.
Away from Siebel Analytic Applications, Oracle will be recommending the Sunopsis product ahead of Informatica for customers who need to load more than just Oracle Data Warehouses. If they are only targeting Oracle Data Warehouses, they could use the Oracle Warehouse Builder product.
Sunopsis was one of just a handful of independent extract, transform and load pure-plays left in the market. In many cases ETL has been subsumed into a broader data integration stack that includes aspects of both analytic (data warehousing) and operational (data migration, replication, synchronization) data integration.
Indeed, Sunopsis had broadened its own offerings beyond ETL to offer what it called an Active Integration Platform, and had forged partnerships with the likes of data quality vendor Harte-Hanks Trillium Software too.
Oracle said the deal has already closed, and that it is anticipated that the majority of Sunopsis’ staff including its CEO is likely to stay on at Oracle.
