InformationWeek

August 4, 1997

Legacy Data Access For NT Users

Tools are key to Sybase initiative

ybase Inc. has rolled out new replication tools designed to make mainframe legacy data more easily accessible to Windows NT desktop users.

The announcement, which came at last week's DCI Data Warehousing Conference '97 in New York, is part of Sybase's broader data warehousing initiative, which also includes its QuickStart Data Mart and SybaseIQ, a multidimensional query server.

The Emeryville, Calif., company's replication tools include Replication Agent for Oracle7 on NT, Information Management System, and Virtual Sequential Access Method databases, which automatically copy data from these databases into Sybase's System 11 and vice versa. During the data replicat ion from IMS and VSAM, the tools also transform the data from a flat file to a relational format. Replication Agents for Oracle7 on Unix and for earlier versions of DB2 on MVS are already available from Sybase. Sybase officials say they will soon begin beta testing of Replication Agent for DB2 version 10.2 on the MVS platform.

Also shipping is Distribution Director, a Windows-based data-migration manager for tracking information movement between primary and destination databases.

"The new tools are part of Sybase's effort to provide interoperability among different data stores and systems," says Frank Gillett, a senior analyst with the Hurwitz Group in Newton, Mass. "Rather than go the `universal server' route, Sybase is offering database parts required by customers in a heterogeneous world."

The replication tools also highlight Sybase's increased focus on NT. "Windows NT is so much more economical and easier to administer than Unix that almost every one of our clients has [a Windows NT strategy ]," says Mike Craig, principal for consulting firm Ernst & Young in Atlanta. "This interest makes it necessary for vendors to tie their products into the Windows NT architecture."

Sybase competitor Informix Software Inc. debuted its own broad NT product strategy plan last month ( IW, July 21, p. 28 ).

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