Data mining, data warehousing, decision support and knowledge discovery make up the universe of D S * ( dsstar ), the only executive business newsletter supporting strategic employment of these technologies.

The On-Line Executive Journal for Data-Intensive Decision Support
*** December 15, 1998: Vol. 2, No. 50 ***
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Article retrieval instructions are at the end of this file.
For subscription information, email dssub@tgc.com
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DS* wishes all readers a joyous Holiday Season and prosperous New Year!
Volume 2 of DS* concludes with this issue; the first edition of volume 3
will be published January 5, 1999.
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IN THIS ISSUE:

BRINGING DATA MINING TO THE MAINSTREAM, PART II
BY INDERPAL BHANDARI
SAGENT BECOMING DATA MART DU JOUR IN EUROPE
VISUAL DATA MINING COMES OF AGE

ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY

BRINGING DATA MINING TO THE MAINSTREAM -- PART II
by Inderpal Bhandari, executive editor at large

Inderpal Bhandari is widely recognized as a leading researcher in data mining and computer science. He is one of the few experts who have successfully demonstrated how the emerging technology of data mining can be translated into useful applications that offer a competitive advantage. Recently, he formed Virtual Gold, Inc. to implement his technical vision. Virtual Gold also offers a consulting service to help clients differentiate themselves from their competitors via the use of data mining technology.

From 1990-1997, Dr. Bhandari was a member of the research staff at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, where he received several awards for his pioneering work in data mining and in software engineering. He was the creator and project director of IBM's Advanced Scout, a data mining program used extensively by coaches of the National Basketball Association to devise new strategies based on the automatic identification of hidden patterns in game data and video.

He was educated at Carnegie Mellon University (Ph.D, Electrical & Computer Engineering, 1990), the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (M.S.) and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India (B.Engg). He has published extensively in leading computer-related journals and conferences and has deployed several cutting-edge technological solutions to business problems.

In the concluding article of a two-part series Dr. Bhandari notes his unique approach to the challenge of definitively bringing data mining technology into the mainstream of business enterprise technology. The first part of this commentary may be retrieved as: 100456 .

EMC HELPS THE POLK COMPANY DRIVE DOWN COSTS AND INCREASE REVENUES

EMC Corporation, a leading provider of enterprise storage systems, software and services, announced that The Polk Company, a leading provider of marketing information services and database management, has acquired seven terabytes of EMC Symmetrix Enterprise Storage and several EMC software solutions to speed the creation of new services and improve availability of its mission-critical data warehouses.

OVUM GIVES INFORMATICA HIGHEST OVERALL RATING FOR ENTERPRISE DATA WAREHOUSING TECHNOLOGY

Informatica Corporation, provider of the leading software platform for deploying enterprise business intelligence and analytic applications, announced its products received the highest ranking among nine competing data warehouse technology vendors in Ovum's recent report.

FEDCO STORES USES DS TECHNOLOGY FROM PEOPLESOFT

MicroStrategy Incorporated, a leading worldwide provider of mission-critical decision support systems, and PeopleSoft Inc., a leading provider of enterprise application software, announced that their joint customer, the Federated Employees' Distributing Company (Fedco Stores), a $590 million retail operation, is using PeopleSoft Retail Decision Support.

LUMINATE SHINES FREE LIGHT ON SAP
by Randy Weston

A maker of performance management tools for SAP's R/3 business software, Luminate will begin giving away for free the Luminate TimePiece, a response time analyzer for R/3. Similar software sells for about $10,000.

SAGENT RAPIDLY BECOMING 'DATA MART DU JOUR' AT MAJOR EUROPEAN ORGANIZATIONS; SAGENT SOLUTION CHOSEN AT BRITISH TELECOM, PLAYTEX, CARREFOUR

Sagent Technology Inc., provider of leading turnkey solutions for bringing data marts to the Web, announced that its data mart solution has been rapidly embraced by the European community, with major institutions such as British Telecom, Playtex and Carrefour -- one of the largest French retailers -- choosing Sagent as part of their strategic data warehouse and data mart initiatives.

MICROSOFT JOINS META DATA COALITION TO FOSTER META DATA STANDARD; ANNOUNCES XML META DATA INTERCHANGE WITH LEADING REPOSITORY VENDORS

Microsoft Corp. announced it joined the Meta Data Coalition (MDC), an industry consortium of 47 software vendors and corporations, and transferred to the organization the rights to maintain and evolve the Microsoft Open Information Model (OIM), a specification for representing meta-data.

NEW SOFTWARE ENABLES DECISION-MAKERS TO VISUALIZE "SWEET SPOT" IN COMPLICATED BUSINESS INFORMATION

Visual data mining is the new cutting edge of business applications and information management tools that benefit both analysts and decision-makers in information-intensive markets.

PCS HEALTH SYSTEMS WEB ENABLES DATA WAREHOUSE WITH HELP FROM SQRIBE AND IBM; JAVA-BASED BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE APPLLICATION SPEEDS INFORMATION TO FIELD

SQRIBE Technologies has announced that PCS Health Systems has Web enabled its data warehouse using a Java-based business intelligence application, giving PCS's clinical field specialists quick access to information used to improve patient care.

ACTION ITEMS

Iridium Selects One-By-One Campaign Manager from Paragren Technologies
Paragren Technologies announced that Iridium LLC has selected One-By-One Campaign Manager, a comprehensive customer acquisition and retention system, as the strategic customer marketing tool for marketing Iridium Service. Paragren's campaign management tool, along with One-By-One Application Server, is being used to support the global marketing campaigns for Iridium's network that combines global satellite services with local ground-based wireless services.

Paragren Technologies Announces Forthcoming Release of One-By-One Version 2.5
Paragren Technologies announced the forthcoming release of version 2.5 of its One-By-One suite of marketing software for customer-centric, one-to-one marketing.

QueryObject And Siemens Partner on 'Smart Warehouse' Software For Telecom Industry; QueryObject Systems to Facilitate Call Detail Record Analysis
QueryObject Systems Corporation announced the release of QueryObject System for Siemens' family of UNIX servers. This software is of particular interest to telecommunication companies which need to provide analytical access to very large volumes of customer and network data, typically as call detail records (CDRs).

Red Brick and Caribou Lake Software Team Up to Deliver Web-Based Data Warehousing Solutions; Caribou Lake to Resell Red Brick DecisionScape Products
Red Brick Systems, Inc. announced a strategic partnership with Caribou Lake Software, a leading provider of software products and services focused on data management, data analysis and Java Internet/Intranet technologies, to deliver customized, web-based data warehousing solutions for mission-critical business decision-making.

Norstan Consulting's Data Warehousing Applications Streamline Baker & Taylor, Inc. Operations
New Norstan data warehousing applications are streamlining business operations and enhancing profit potential at Baker & Taylor Inc., one of the world's largest distributors of books, videocassettes and music.

Dimensional Insight to Rely On Monarch Technology for Report-Based Data Acquisition
Datawatch Corporation, a leading provider of Enterprise Reporting and Service Center software, and Dimensional Insight, Inc., a leading provider of business intelligence software, announced a strategic technology licensing agreement.

net.Genesis Provides Data Mining Solution to IBM Net.Commerce Customers; Integration Empowers Online Businesses to Understand, Optimize and Accelerate Sales and Marketing Initiatives
net.Genesis Corp, a leader in e-business intelligence solutions for Internet-enabled enterprises, announced that its flagship product, net.Analysis, will interoperate with IBM Net.Commerce software.

ADC Metrica announces strategic partnership with Unica Technologies
ADC Metrica, a business unit of ADC Telecommunications, and a world leader in network performance management, has signed an OEM agreement with Unica Technologies, Inc. a leader in the field of data mining.

Diebold Presents MedSelect Database Mining Capabilities
With the addition of a powerful new database mining tool, Diebold, Incorporated, has expanded the capabilities of its MedSelect medication and supply dispensing system. Using online analytical processing (OLAP) tools delivered by Cognos' PowerPlay, pharmacy managers can quickly sift through enormous amounts of data to reveal discrepancies, uncover trends and provide vital operational insights.

Exchange Applications and SAS Institute Ship First Integrated Application for Dynamic Scoring in Marketing Campaigns
Exchange Applications, a leading provider of customer optimization software and services, announced that its new version of VALEX software, available immediately, is the first campaign management application to integrate data mining capabilities. Through a separately priced software module called Model Connect, VALEX 2.1 users can dynamically score customer segments by invoking statistical models from SAS Institute's Enterprise Miner software directly into marketing campaigns.

Concept Information Systems and MicroStrategy Introduce Q-Manufacturing for Supply Chain Decision Support
MicroStrategy Incorporated, a leading worldwide provider of mission-critical decision support systems, and Concept Information Systems announced the availability of Q-Manufacturing, a powerful data warehousing and decision support solution that extends the value and reach of information in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain applications.

Sequent Announces NUMACenter 2.0, a Launch Pad for Windows NT to the Data Center; NUMACenter Enables Rapid Application Deployment, Lower Cost of Solution, and Central Management
Sequent Computer Systems, Inc., a leader in Intel-based data center solutions, has introduced NUMACenter 2.0, a second generation mixed mode computing environment enabling rapid deployment, lower cost and central management of large scale, mission critical Windows NT Server applications.

Informix and HP Speed Time to Market With Comprehensive Data-warehousing Initiative; Industry-First Program Delivers Pre-tested, Pre-certified Data-warehouse Configurations
Informix Corporation, a technology leader in enterprise database-powered solutions, and Hewlett-Packard Company, have unveiled a certified data-warehouse (CDW) program that enables customers to implement pre-tested and pre-certified enterprise data-warehouse solutions easily.

HP and Oracle Announce Multi-Terabyte Data-Warehousing Initiative; Terabyte Plus Initiative Scales Warehouses to Support Demands of Enterprise and Internet Users
Hewlett-Packard Company and Oracle Corporation have announced a comprehensive terabyte plus initiative aligning the two companies' technology, R&D, sales, consulting and support services to support multi-terabyte data-warehousing environments.

SAS Institute Elevates OLE DB for OLAP to the Enterprise
SAS Institute Inc., a market leader in integrated data warehousing and decision support, has announced the Beta release of its OLE DB for OLAP server solution, which runs against the SAS hybrid OLAP (HOLAP) engine across its enterprise servers.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"With the ability to analyze our merchandising information at the atomic level, we are able to make decisions that increase our sales, fine-tune our marketing, and improve customer satisfaction."

• Linda Morin, Fedco Stores

CONFERENCES & SEMINARS 12.15.98

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