Snap 'Em Up

Welcome back to the binge. Oracle and IBM both announced acquisitions last week that will have a major impact on their ability to deliver more of the data that business intelligence experts want. Both database giants, it seems, are working hard to provide wider swathes of information. As they should. And as they will continue to do.Welcome back to the binge. Oracle and IBM both announced acquisitions last week that will have a major impact on their ability to deliver more of the data that business intelligence experts want. Both database giants, it seems, are working hard to provide wider swathes of information. As they should. And as they will continue to do.

So first, Oracle. Coming soon to a database near you: the ability to better integrate "content" -- documents and records -- from various sources into your information repositories. Oracle confirmed this week that it's acquiring technology and staff from Context Media, a Providence, R.I.-based content integration company.

"Content integration" ties together document management and other repositories from different vendors, as Barbara Darrow of CRN explains in this wrap-up of the deal. Oracle was initially mum on the acquisition, but the company confirmed the transaction after CRN broke news on the pact this week.

More open about its planned acquisition this week was IBM. Big Blue said on Tuesday that it plans to acquire DWL, a privately held customer data integration specialist. CRN's intrepid Darrow was again on the spot with her coverage, which we bring to you this week on Business Intelligence Pipeline. DWL offers Java-based middleware that helps companies get an integrated view of customer prospects across various applications.

Neither Oracle nor IBM disclosed financial terms of their respective transactions.

All the database manufacturers -- especially the big ones -- want to offer more information in a single package. The transactions revealed this week aren't novel. On the contrary, they both represent just another step in the database players' march to make more and more data available -- and, therefore, analyzable -- for their customers.

In short, they're working hard for your attention. The realm of business intelligence is a gradually maturing one. All the vendors -- whether they have their roots in reporting, analytics, integration or data storage -- have recognized that they need to provide a bigger part of the total BI package.

There will certainly be critics who call me out for referring to this week's transactions as "BI" news. But frankly, they don't know what they're talking about. What good is data if it isn't well analyzed? Here's your answer: It's no good at all.

Look for more transactions, of course. Not just among the database makers, but among all the rest of the BI spectrum as well. And look for your updates on the latest here at Business Intelligence Pipeline.