Main-memory database start-ups Angara Database Systems Inc and TimesTen Performance Software Inc may face a major challenge from Microsoft Corp over the next year or so, as the software giant prepares to release its own in-memory database technology. According to PC Week, IMDB is being developed by the COM+ team within Microsoft, and has been designed as a fast, transient, transactional database, suitable for processing online transactions from the internet at high speeds. As ever, IMDB will tie uses in to Microsoft’s own Component Object Model, but it is nevertheless likely to prove attractive to ERP vendors such as Baan NV, Peoplesoft International Inc and J D Edwards and Co, looking to duplicate the functionality of SAP AG’s liveCache without the development work. LiveCache is a high speed memory- based technology for memory resident processing of data objects, so that forecasting, planning and optimization activities can be carried out in real time, avoiding hard disk operation, which traditionally slows processing down (CI No 3,493). PC Week suggests that, because SAP and Microsoft have been closely cooperating of late, there may be some technology trading going on. But IMDB, as part of COM+, will eventually ship effectively free of charge with every copy of Windows 2000, which could certainly put the pressure on Angara and TimesTen, who are just now bringing their products onto the market.
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