The Westboro, Massachusetts-based company outlined a pretty aggressive roadmap for pumping new functionality into its flagship Enterprise Integration Suite.
Ascential launched version 7.5 of the data integration suite in May this year. The release improved interoperability between the platform components, enhanced usability and delivered an extended service oriented (SOA) architecture to Ascential’s TX transactional data integration and exchange engine.
According to Jim Welch, Ascential’s vice president of product development, functional enhancements being made available in a subsequent point release (7.5.1) demonstrate Ascential’s further commitment to continuous improvement.
Specific enhancements, effective immediately and through to the fourth quarter, include: broadened access to legacy data sources and more file and database formats (including Sybase IQ and Microsoft SQL Server); greater formatting options for graphical and cross-tabular reporting and analysis; additional platform certifications; and new tools for gauging impact analysis of changes in data definitions.
Welch also previewed some new user-centric functionality, which he expects to be delivered as part of a string of product upgrades planned for 2005.
This will include a methodology-driven navigation scheme, that includes workspace management tools and wizards to map Ascential’s software tools to all the relevant steps of the enterprise data integration lifecycle, and a novel self-adapting interface that understands and anticipates user work patterns by serving up links to related tasks and resources.
Additionally Ascential will also beef up the suite’s data profiling and analysis capabilities.
Our vision is to intuitively map a customer’s work style to the execution of their data integration responsibilities, said Welch.
Welch expects to begin beta testing these features in the first quarter of 2005.
Ascential recently reported revenue of $67.6 million for its third quarter, up 47% from the same quarter a year ago. Net income for the quarter stood at $2.3 million.
