Microsoft Corp said this week it is working on developing extensions to its OLE DB data access interfaces to enable software vendors to more efficiently integrate data mining tools and applications within databases. The OLE DB for data mining will build on Microsoft’s Universal Data Access strategy which already includes the OLE DB for OLAP interfaces for multi- dimensional database access.
Barry Goffe, product manager for Microsoft’s SQL Server said that data mining tools are used today to analyze information held within applications like data warehouses and customer relationship management systems. But he said that there are two main limitations. First, the tools are expensive and secondly, they are not well connected to databases. Companies need to manually extract the data they wish to analyze and then apply the data mining tools or applications on top. With its OLE DB extensions, Goffe said Microsoft was trying to make it easier for developers to integrate their data mining tools more closely with databases, be it Redmond’s SQL Server or an equivalent from Oracle, Sybase or Informix.
But most importantly, Goffe said it will enable ISVs that are building line of business applications, such as ERP, CRM or e- commerce systems, to embed the datamining technology into their actual applications. The resulting product, says Microsoft, will enable end users to transparently access applications like fraud detection, credit-risk analysis, marketing campaign management and one-to-one marketing. So an ISV that develops fraud detection algorithms for example, could embed them into an e-commerce application so that every time a fraudulent transaction comes in over the web it will be automatically detected, said Goffe. Or algorithms could be built that carry out functions like customer shopping basket analysis. So every time a customer clicks on a certain item, the tools look up what the last customers who clicked on that item went to next and then suggest those products next. Goffe said the extensions were currently under review. In June, Microsoft will hold a design meeting to pull in additional industry comments. The final specification is expected to be released in the second half of 1999.
