New kid on the block Influence Software Inc is hoping to make a splash in the market for data warehouse applications with its new Influence Knowledge Warehouse for SAP product. Sunnyvale, California-based Influence is touting IKW as the first packaged data warehouse application designed for SAP R/3. Influence co- founder and president Marv Mouchawar boasts that his product, which is due to ship during the third quarter, offers out of the box web-based business analysis. The product, which features business analysis, reporting, data extraction and transformation, offers a pre-packaged customizable data warehouse and pre- configured knowledge applications to SAP customers. The first available applications for SAP include product profitability, inventory performance, supplier performance, delivery performance and manufacturing performance. Mouchawar is quick to point out that what he’s offering is not a toolset but an enterprise application that can be deployed in a matter of weeks, rather than the months or even quarters it could take for customers to build their own data warehouses. IKW is an industry-specific product, designed with the needs of the manufacturing sector in mind. It has one beta customer, Allied Signal Corp, which has deployed the product in 10 of its locations, and is said to be pleased with performance. Mouchawar says a couple more customers for large-scale deployments are in the works. Founded in October of 1996, Influence’s mission is to provide knowledge automation software for datawarehousing, to deliver the right level of information to decision makers, according to Mouchawar. Looking ahead, Mouchawar promises similar products for other platforms such as PeopleSoft and Baan, as well as an expansion of scope beyond the manufacturing industry. Thus far, the company has been privately funded by systems integrator IT Solutions Inc, with which its currently engaged in a second round of funding. Mouchawar figures to take his company public by 2001. Pricing for IKW has yet to be determined.
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