By Simon Hodgson
Sybase Inc says it aims to become the leader in the enterprise portal market inside two years. The statement comes only a day after database rival Informix Corp bought data manipulation tools vendor Ardent Software Inc, moving it a step closer to assembling its own portal jigsaw. Emeryville, California-based Sybase will release its Enterprise Portal, which is currently in beta testing, on February 11 followed by two portals aimed at the financial services and telecommunications markets in the second half next year.
The vertical portals will enable users to access Sybase’s data warehouses which have been pre-configured for each sector. Sybase is launching a marketing drive aimed at the European telecoms market, building into its telecoms warehouse features such as customer churn analysis, telecoms usage rates and pre-campaign market analysis. Sybase also offers a customer care and billing application developed alongside RSL Communications Ltd, the global carrier headquartered in Bermuda.
The portals use industry templates Sybase gained from its acquisition of Irish Data Warehouse Network (DWN) in February. Sybase released standalone data warehouses equipped with DWN technology for a number of markets, including healthcare, financial services, retail and utilities in September.
Sybase’s entry into the portal market follows database rivals Oracle and IBM making statements in September and November respectively, although analyst comments yesterday on the Informix-Ardent deal suggest it may be several months before that database firm emerges with a portal offering.
