Software

As some of you may know Microsoft announced earlier this year its final OLE DB for DM specification to provide standards based interfaces for developers who wish to "data mining enable" enterprise applications.

In parallel with OLE DB for DM, Microsoft's database (SQL Server 2000) and web platform products (Site Server Commerce Edition) include selected server side data mining algorithms developed by Microsoft Research. [The most relevant parallel competitive development is Oracle's acquisition of Thinking Machines, a pioneering data mining vendor in the UNIX space.]

Many analysts have a perception that data mining technology does not deliver demonstrable business value, is unduly complex, or both.

While Oracle is largely "going it alone" in this area, Microsoft is actively leveraging and empowering its developer network to use and build on the SQL Server 2000 and SSCE platforms, and to address these perceptions.

Below is a link to an announcement concerning the demonstration by Microsoft this week at Tech Ed of the integration of KnowledgeSTUDIO, the ANGOSS data mining platform, with SQL Server 7.

Using our SDK, we developed customized components integrated with SQL Server 2000. The demonstration app involved a simple database marketing scenario where the customer wants to maximize the profitability of a targetted marketing campaign. Using our interactive controls integrated with SQL Server 2000 a business user receives "point and click" interactivity with their database to design and execute a targetted marketing campaign within the context of defined profitability objectives.

This application illustrates how quickly and cost effectively using SQL Server and KnowledgeSTUDIO developers in both the enterprise application space and in corporate IT departments who are comfortable with Microsoft platforms and tools can leverage the Microsoft platform and compatible third party solutions to build better "intelligence" into their environments.

The link is as follows:

http://www.angoss.com/news/press060600.html

Our expectation would be that over the next development cycle, both enterprise application developers and internal IT personnel are going to move into this area to harness the business benefits of integrating data mining technology into their applications and infrastructure.

>From a competitive standpoint, this kind of evolution has implications for data mining vendors, and also for "point solution providers" in such areas as web analytics, campaign management and other application areas related to value chain optimization.

If you have any questions, or would like further information, please contact myself or Ken Ono, our VP Technology.

The Microsoft contact for SQL Server 2000 is Steve Murchie.

Regards

Eric Apps President ANGOSS Software eapps@angoss.com 416 593 2430