By Jason Stamper
Struggling software maintenance and tools company Viasoft Inc says it has at last added eXtensible Markup Language (XML) support to its Rochade enterprise repository. Available now, the company claims XML support marks phase one of its strategy to support the Open Information Model (OIM) – a technology-independent spec for representing meta data. Once it fits the other pieces to the jigsaw with the next phases, the company says it will be in a position to offer open data exchange between its Rochade repository, the Microsoft Repository and any other repository or tool vendor’s products based on OIM.
According to Viasoft, moving beyond proprietary exchange formats to the XML standard means that meta data information can be shared across a large number of sources including databases, languages, modelling tools, data extraction tools and business intelligence tools. This makes it particularly useful for building data warehouses, Viasoft argues. Other vendors lining up behind XML at the server side include IBM Corp with the latest version of DB2, Object Design Inc, Unisys Corp, and Microsoft Corp with its BizTalk e-commerce schemas; whilst Oracle and Select Software (just acquired by Princeton Softech Inc) are amongst the tools vendors touting XML support.
In addition to supporting Microsoft’s interchange format (XIF), this ‘phase one’ release from Viasoft provides XML exchange support for native Rochade models (VXF). In later phases the company says it will provide support for the OMG’s XML Metadata Interchange (XMI) format also. Rochade itself is an enterprise repository environment, which enables an organization to capture, reuse and evolve information assets. Rochade facilitates an integrated IT asset management environment and provides a single point of communication for managing critical information about data, wherever it resides in an organization, Viasoft says.
In advance of Viasoft’s third quarter results back in April the company was forced to issue a profit warning and undergo a restructuring, which saw it shed at least 100 jobs, around 20% of its workforce, resulting in a $10m charge to be taken during the fourth quarter. The results, announced in April, were as bad as predicted. Third quarter revenues were just $25.8m, compared to $26.8m in the same quarter of fiscal 1998. Net income was $487,000 in the third quarter of fiscal 1999, compared to a loss of $4.1m for the same period a year ago. The net loss for the first nine months of fiscal 1999 was $5.1m or $0.28 per share. The refocusing of the company sees it aiming provide legacy to e-business integration services.
