IIF.2000, expected to ship within a month, is based on Informix's object-relational database technology and adds application server and Java capabilities. The system accesses and consolidates data from disparate sources, including legacy systems, and makes that data available to Internet and intranet applications. IIF.2000 uses Informix's DataBlade architecture to support multiple data types, including text, audio, and video.

"With IIF.2000, Informix finally integrates object-relational technology and specific features such as Java code to match Internet needs," says Wayne Kernochan, an analyst at the Aberdeen Group. The product's capabilities clearly differentiate it from competing products, such as Oracle8i and Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0, he says.

InteliHealth Inc., a Blue Bell, Pa., operator of a health-information Web site, is testing IIF.2000. "It's faster and more efficient [than earlier versions were], and it has higher integrity. You can't crash it," says Richard Genzer, InteliHealth's chief technology officer. The platform's Java capabilities will make it easier for InteliHealth to develop personalization and customer-response applications and run them in a distributed fashion, Genzer says.

Informix is also developing another database, called Yellowstone, for data warehousing and decision-support applications. It's expected to debut this fall. Informix rounds out its E-commerce offerings with i.Sell electronic-storefront software and the i.Reach content-management system. Pricing for IIF.2000 hasn't been set.

Also last week, Informix reported net income of $17.5 million on sales of $206.8 million for its second fiscal quarter ended June 30. In the same period last year, the company posted net income of $11.3 million on sales of $174.2 million.