Acta Technology Introduces Data Integration Web Services; Global 2000 Customers Can Now Invoke ActaWorks Jobs as Web Services.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Two years after releasing the first data integration platform to combine batch and real-time data movement, Acta Technology announced today that it is the first data integration software provider to embed Web Services capabilities into an extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) tool. With ActaWorks(TM) 5.2, Global 2000 customers can dynamically publish data integration web services to other enterprise applications thereby enabling organizations and their partners to more rapidly, and at lower cost, utilize data integration to streamline operations and provide better customer satisfaction.

Data integration (DI) Web Services enable companies to exchange data with customers, partners, and suppliers via a central directory, allowing them to seamlessly connect to a wider number of customers, partners, and suppliers. With DI Web Services companies can combine and consolidate information from customers, partners, and suppliers without having to develop custom data integration with each company. ActaWorks' Web Services can be developed for both batch and real-time data integration, such as for updates of data warehouses as well as for real-time application-to-application data integration.

Web Services describes a way of integrating Web-based applications using the XML, SOAP, WSDL, and UDDI open standards over the Internet. Acta's Web Services implementation uses XML to tag the data, SOAP to transfer the data, and WSDL to describe the services available.

"Exposing batch and real-time data integration functions as Web services is increasingly important for companies as they seek to integrate more closely with suppliers, partners and customers," said Doug Laney, vice president, META Group. "Utilizing ETL services via standard Web protocols can speed the deployment of data integration solutions both within and among companies."

For example, with embedded Web Services connections, ActaWorks' customers can call ActaWorks services directly by sending the request as a URL much like a stock quote on the Internet. ActaWorks customers can also configure a button on a web page or in another application that reads "update warehouse." Pushing the button sends a WSDL request that kicks off the jobs required to update the warehouse or perform data integration tasks.

"As the leading producer of beer, soft drinks, isotonic drinks, water and iced tea for South American markets, Ambev's operations require data integration across a wide variety of systems, divisions and companies," said Leandro Balbinot, director of Data Warehousing and Enterprise Architecture, Ambev. "The ability to access ActaWorks jobs and services as Web Services from remote sites across the Internet without having to develop custom data integration will greatly speed deployment and reduce costs of data integration projects.

Visionary Architecture

"Today's announcement was made possible by the visionary architecture Acta first delivered in 2000 with the delivery of the first real-time ETL engine in ActaWorks version 4," said Carol Mills Baldwin, CEO and president of Acta Technology. "Web Services builds on that real-time foundation, as well as on our real-time adapter framework and HTTP support that we added over the past two years. Web Services is thus an evolutionary step, not an overhaul of our architecture, validating our technological vision."

Acta Milestones critical to Web Services Availability

ActaWorks Real-time engine          ActaWorks 4.0       2000
Real-time adapter framework         ActaWorks 5.0       2001
HTTP adapter                        ActaWorks 5.1       2001
Web Services Support                ActaWorks 5.2       2002

The ActaWorks' Adapter Framework provides a messaging infrastructure and framework that enables rapid building of interface adapters to any application or tool. Acta offers a wide selection of adapters supporting more standard application program interfaces than any other ETL products currently available, such as JMS, HTTP, HTTP/S, SOAP, WSDL and several other protocols. ActaWorks' WSDL support extends the benefits of the ActaWorks real-time adapter framework to standards based web application development environments.

ActaWorks' Web Services Functionality

ActaWorks projects and jobs can be "published" as WSDL objects and methods respectively. By "publishing" a project to WSDL, ActaWorks will create a WSDL object that maps to the jobs defined in the ActaWorks' project that is being published. The WSDL methods it creates also contain strongly typed definitions of the variables that the job expects to receive. The WSDL is platform agnostic and should be available for all operating system versions of the ActaWorks Job Server.

Availability

A controlled release of ActaWorks' Web Services is available today with ActaWorks 5.2. General availability will be later this year.

About Acta Technology, Inc.

Acta provides the industry's first and only batch and real-time data integration platform expanding extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) technology beyond its traditional data warehousing role to more effectively integrate business intelligence (BI), enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), supply chain management (SCM), and eCommerce solutions. With Acta's highly scalable data integration software, enterprises can rapidly design and deploy data flows that provide customers, suppliers, employees, and partners with the critical information they need, faster and at lower cost.

Acta's more than 230 customers include Alcatel (NYSE:ALA), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), CommerzBank (OTC:CRZBY), IBM (NYSE:IBM), Metro-Goldwyn Mayer (NYSE:MGM), Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT), Pirelli (OTC:PIREY), Unilever (NYSE:UL), and other leaders in the Global 2000. The company partners with leading systems integrators and enterprise software vendors including IBM, Accenture (NYSE:ACN), Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), Manugistics (Nasdaq:MANU), PeopleSoft (Nasdaq:PSFT), SAP (NYSE:SAP) and Siebel Systems (Nasdaq:SEBL). Established in 1996, Acta has corporate headquarters in Mountain View, CA, and international headquarters in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Note to Editors: eCaches and ActaWorks are trademarks of Acta Technology, Inc. All other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.