MITS Report 2.0 Expands Database Support, Improves Usability and Integration Capabilities
MITS, a leading provider of reporting and business intelligence solutions, announced a major new release of its popular operational reporting solution, MITS Report. MITS Report 2.0 includes complete integration with a wide range of MultiValue and relational databases, giving customers more consistent and powerful reporting capabilities in today’s multi-platform computing environments. The release also constitutes a major step forward in usability, with a new look and dozens of data access, presentation and integration features.
With version 2.0, all MITS report functions can be used with nine additional databases. Support has expanded to a combination of MultiValue and relational platforms, including: TigerLogic D3, OpenQM (see related article), Northgate Reality, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL database management system, PostgreSQL, InterSystems Caché, Oracle and Apache Derby. MITS Report continues its complete support for IBM’s UniVerse and UniData platforms.
“It is not uncommon for companies to utilize more than one database platform,” says Gary Owen, MITS vice president of software operations. “Because MITS Report supports multiple databases, users can create reports while remaining in a single, familiar environment and interface.”
The release also adds a range of new Web application programming interfaces (APIs) which enable software solution vendors to more thoroughly embed MITS Report within their own applications. Thanks to complete integration capabilities, end users may use MITS Report within a third-party solution without ever realizing it.
“The new, Web services-based integration is important to end users as well as software providers,” adds Owen. “Now any application, wherever it was developed, can be integrated with MITS Report via Web services.” While Internet-based applications are a great fit for the new interoperability features, MITS has successfully integrated MITS Report with .NET applications as well.
The new release helps users set up dynamic connections to MITS Report from within Excel workbooks. “Now users can connect to a report from within any Excel document,” explains Owen, “similar to the way Excel connects to a database.” Once connected, a spreadsheet can be automatically updated as the underlying data presented by the report changes. Excel power users will appreciate the ability to integrate the filtering, summarizing, and formatting capabilities of MITS Report with consolidation, pivot tables, and other advanced Excel features.
Because Excel isn’t the only way users share data, MITS has added PDF export capability to MITS Report. End users will enjoy the functionality improvements associated with creating and distributing reports via email directly through the MITS Report interface. (Continued)
For more information about MITS Report 2.0, view this release in its entirety here.
Back to top
BlueFinity Announces General Availability of mv.NET Version 4
BlueFinity International, a member of the Mpower1 Group of Companies, has announced the general availability of the latest version of mv.NET Version 4, its toolset designed for creating Microsoft .NET-based applications requiring access to MultiValue databases. mv.NET provides a 100% native .NET interface to all major MultiValue database platforms allowing .NET developers to access all aspects of the MultiValue system (both data and program code) from within the .NET application. It also offers end-user capabilities that allow the developer to rapidly create feature-rich, high performance applications using the tools provided by Microsoft's .NET environment.
Version 4.0 of mv.NET extends support for newer operating system platforms and .NET frameworks along with enhanced support for various foreign language-based Windows installations. The launch of Version 4 also introduces a new product called mv.SSIS, a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) component which provides complete integration of the mv.NET ADO.NET provider with the SSIS environment. This allows drag-and-drop creation of standard SSIS packages within the SSIS design studio, providing seamless transfer of data between MultiValue databases and SQL.
“The mv.SSIS product follows in the footsteps of its other sibling BlueFinity products by providing the SSIS developer with a tightly integrated, natural extension to the native SSIS environment allowing them to seamlessly incorporate MultiValue data sources into their existing or new SSIS workflow packages,” explains Pete Loveless, CEO of BlueFinity International. “It effectively opens up the entire SQL Server set of tools and utilities to MultiValue database users."
Along with support for both 32- and 64-bit operating system platforms, mv.NET Version 4 includes support for Framework 2.0 as well as 3.5. “BlueFinity is committed to enabling both frameworks to coexist and to providing ongoing support for new versions of the .NET Framework,” says Loveless.
Other enhancements include support for Visual Studio 2008, a socket connectivity option for D3 databases, and performance enhancements to the Session Manager which reduces the connection/session allocation overhead and results in even quicker session allocation performance for client applications. “The new Version 4 release lays some important foundations for a number of very exciting product developments in 2009,” observes David Cooper, lead developer at BlueFinity.
BlueFinity is planning a one-day technical seminar in Denver, Colo., on Friday, March 27 at the Westin Westminster Hotel to showcase the product set. More information is available on the BlueFinity website. A detailed list of Version 4 enhancements as well as access to webinars and evaluations of BlueFinity products is also available at the Blue Finity website.
Back to top
IBM U2 SB/XA Personal Edition Now Available; Plans Underway for U2U 2009
SystemBuilder Extensible Architecture for UniData and UniVerse (SB/XA) is now available as a Personal Edition from the U2 Trials and Downloads website. SB/XA PE is the personal use version of the revitalized SB+ application development suite and contains the necessary application server, middle-tier, SBClient and new XAML-based presentation components for use with the U2 PE Databases, according to the company.
There is no support available and it is not for remarketing or production use. It is intended to be an introduction to what can be done with SB/XA and to show users how easy it is to create a robust enterprise application with an extensible modern user interface using the new presentation clients.
“The intent is to encourage new developers to try this product, which is based on Windows Vista technology, including WPF, WCF, and XAML. This is GA1 of the product, designed for developers. We plan to follow quickly with GA2 and GA3 to complete the full functionality of this new product,” Susie Siegesmund, director, U2 Data Servers & Tools, IBM Information Management, tells 5 Minute Briefing.
IBM’s U2 University 2008 events in the U.S., U.K. and Australia have concluded and plans are now underway for U2U in 2009, adds Siegesmund. “U2U went very well this year. Our customers related that they were very pleased with the elevated technical level of the content,” she says.
In addition to the one-hour sessions, there were 75- and 90-minute sessions, which allowed the presenter to delve deeper into the topics, and the four-hour tutorials were also popular. “We plan to have three events next year--one each in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia,” says Siegesmund. “The major new offering will be hands-on labs. We're looking at one event per month in September, October and November.”
For more information on IBM’s U2 family of products, go here. For trials and demos, go here.
Back to top
Entrinsik's Informer Reporting Presented at Customer Conference; Informer 4.0 Release Planned for March
EnRoute Emergency Systems and Entrinsik, developer of Informer software, recently presented Informer Web-based reporting to EnRoute users at the 2008 Enroute Emergency Systems Customer Conference in Tampa, Fla. EnRoute Emergency Systems is a supplier of public safety applications that meet the computer-aided dispatch (CAD) and records management system (RMS) requirements of law enforcement and toll highway agencies, ambulance service providers, and fire/EMS department.
By partnering with Entrinsik to deliver Informer, EnRoute now offers its customers a secure, intuitive platform for reporting, enabling them to easily access data directly from EnRoute's public safety applications and use the web to share information. “We conducted extensive research for a powerful, yet practical web-based reporting solution for our customers and selected Informer,” says Margaret Moran, director of sales at EnRoute. “Informer provides our customers with secure access to their data in real-time to create compelling reports quickly and easily. Our customers can now automatically run and schedule reports utilizing our Pre-Established Report Library and can also link EnRoute data directly to Excel for live analysis.”
Entrinsik is on schedule for the launch of Informer 4.0, which the company describes as a “breakthrough” in simultaneous multi-database reporting. “We continue to stay focused on delivering functionally rich, user-friendly reporting software built on the most advanced technology in the industry,” says Doug Leupen, president of Entrinsik. “Informer 4.0 enables technical and non-technical staff to instantly create and customize reports to perform real-time analysis of data against multiple databases without the need to set up a data warehouse or complicated cube.”
New features in the upcoming release include simultaneous access to SQL and U2 databases; a Web 2.0 user interface; drill-down analytics and dynamic charting ; and multi-dimensional data grouping and interactive sorting. Informer 4.0 is now in alpha testing and Entrinsik is in the process of demonstrating Informer 4.0 to existing customers and partners. General availability of the new release is planned for March 2009. For more on Entrinsik, go here.
Back to top
MITS to Provide Business Intelligence and Reporting Solutions for Ladybridge’s OpenQM Database
Developers of the OpenQM database, Ladybridge Systems Ltd and leading business intelligence and reporting solutions provider, Management Information Tools, Inc. (dba MITS) have announced MITS compatibility with OpenQM. This includes the entire MITS product line; the flagship OLAP/BI solution, MITS Discover and MITS Report for ad hoc reporting.
“We’ve talked to Ladybridge’s customers and heard rave reviews about the power of the OpenQM platform,” states MITS president Fred Owen. “Furthermore, their commitment to innovation and attention to customer needs creates a natural synergy between our solutions and OpenQM.”
OpenQM provides those looking to capitalize on the power of the MultiValue (MV) database model a low-cost alternative without requiring a sacrifice in terms of functionality and support.
Through an intuitive Web browser interface, MITS Reporting and Business Intelligence solutions offer users unprecedented access to data. “MITS has set the standard for Business Intelligence and Reporting solutions for the MultiValue community and we are enthusiastic about the opportunity to make these solutions available to our customers,” comments Ladybridge System’s technical director and founder Martin Phillips. “Seeing first-hand how easily users navigate through report creation and analysis with MITS products, we are confident of the benefits their solutions provide.”
By partnering with MITS, Ladybridge makes their value-priced solution even more attractive to those interested in migrating to the OpenQM database–eliminating concerns about compatibility. Resellers with solutions built on OpenQM can benefit by integrating MITS Report into their existing offering or provide MITS Discover and Report as valuable system add-ons.
“We have always been focused on providing our customers with exceptional value, both in terms of cost and functionality. Best-of-breed reporting and analytical solutions from MITS extend the value of our customer’s OpenQM investment even further,” Philips says.
For more information about Ladybridge, go here. For more information about MITS, go here.
Back to top |
