Painted Word Improves Data Analysis Tool

Painted Word Inc. this week will ship an updated version ofits Telltale software that's designed to help companies analyze usage patterns of data warehouses and data marts. The company says Telltale 2.0 will offer considerably better performance and speed. It was developed using Java and will feature a query interface to let IT administrators look at results in daily, weekly, or monthly intervals.

Telltale looks at application log file information in online analytical processing servers, then provides information about the frequent users of data systems, what applications are being accessed, length of the average query, and what types of error messages have been received.

Such information can help IT managers decide how data should be represented or how systems should be networked or distributed. For example, IT managers might learn that users have been denied access to a data mart, requiring the need for an additional communications port. Bob Moran, an analyst with the Aberdeen Group, says the business-intelligence tool could fulfill a need for organizations with data marts. Says Moran, "Companies need to make sure they are answering the questions that usage demands."

The software works with IBM DB2 OLAP, Hyperion Essbase, and Showcase Strategy OLAP servers. Pricing for Telltale 2.0 starts at $10,000 for an enterprise edition that analyzes multiple data systems. A scaled-down version for a single data mart is priced at $5,000. Painted Word offers QuickViews, a version of Telltale with limited functionality, at no charge.