Ardent Software Inc, the Westboro, Massachusetts-based datawarehousing development tools company, yesterday launched a new software package which it claims will enable users to extract SAP R/3 data and integrate it more easily with data from other sources. The company said that its DataStage Release 3.6 data integration product suite now provides enhanced SAP support with its Packaged Application Connection Kit (PACK) for SAP R/3.
The pack enables users to extract data directly from SAP R/3 systems natively and integrate it with information from other sources, using Ardent’s DataStage tools for modeling and deploying source-to-target transformations and loads. The process is also supported by a comprehensive set of built-in libraries for complex transformations, Ardent said.
The company said it also intends to release a DataStage Load PACK for SAP’s BW (business warehouse) which conversely makes it easier to integrate SAP and other forms of data, into SAP’s warehouse. The pack adheres to the SAP standard interface protocol, BAPI, which supports loading of the Business Information Warehouse from heterogeneous sources. Ardent says it will be demonstrating both tools at SAP’s Sapphire show on September 13 in Philadelphia.
Yesterday’s news is the second such move the company has made in the ERP space this month. As we reported at the beginning of August, Ardent launched its first extraction and integration pack for PeopleSoft’s enterprise performance management datawarehouse, and the company says it intends to launch products for other ERP systems including Oracle, Baan and JD Edwards in the next several quarters.
Ardent’s DataStage Extraction PACK for SAP R/3 is available today. It supports Microsoft Windows NT and support for all major Unix platforms will be shipping within 60 days, alongside the Load PACK for SAP. Supported platforms for that product include Windows NT and Unix.
