Data General Business Warehouse Program targets retail market; Harvard Coop benefits from program.

WESTBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 1995--Data General's Business Warehouse Program initiative is targeting the retail industry, the single largest market segment for data warehousing applications.

With systems integrators that specialize in serving the market already enlisted and customers like the Harvard Coop up and running with data warehousing solutions, the company is well positioned for rapid growth.

With its data warehousing initiative, Data General is building on an already strong position it has established in the retail marketplace, through partnerships with companies like GERS Retail Systems and STS Systems.

Harvard Coop

CFT Consulting, a retail systems integrator and management consulting firm participating in the Business Warehouse Program, was instrumental in designing the data warehousing solution for the Harvard Coop in Boston.

"Data General understands that competitive advantage does not come shrink-wrapped," observed Ken Goldberg, a partner at CFT. "You cannot supply the right solution for a customer's specific set of data analysis needs by simply selling them a box; you need the flexibility of being able to provide a complete set of tools that will meet their specific requirements."

"Our AViiON system-based data warehouse solution, running the core technology from Sybase IQ, has enabled us to deliver information that was previously unavailable to all of our managers and buyers in each individual's desired format," said Tom Wagner, chief financial officer for the Harvard Coop. "The solutions approach Data General is taking to serving our market certainly made the whole process of creating the warehouse a lot easier than if we had tried to achieve the same goal in a piecemeal fashion or had been working with a vendor that lacked Data General's experience in retail IS."

Sybase

Sybase, another key Business Warehouse Program participant, has recently introduced Sybase IQ, an advanced query processor that uses patented Bit-Wise indexing technology to deliver breakthrough performance for the complex, ad-hoc queries needed to support true interactive analysis for large numbers of users. Sybase IQ offers query performance that is up to one hundred times faster than standard relational databases while also requiring less disk space.

"Sybase is very pleased to be an active participant in Data General's Business Warehouse Program," said John Bersin, director of data warehousing for Sybase. "We are especially enthusiastic about the potential of Data General's Intel based AViiON systems in combination with Sybase IQ to provide highly competitive, extremely efficient price/performance solutions for the retail market."

Systems Techniques

Another important participant in Data General's drive into retail data warehousing applications is Systems Techniques, a systems integrator specializing in the retail market.

"The success of every retail business activity -- from buying to customer service -- is dependent upon how an organization utilizes its critical data," noted Jane Griffin, president and CEO of Systems Techniques. "A retailer that is not using information technology to understand and serve its customer preferences better will be out-performed, out-sold, out-smarted and potentially out of business before the end of the next decade. Comprehensive data warehousing solutions that can be developed through initiatives structured like Data General's Business Warehouse Program are the answer."

Data General

Data General is an open systems company that specializes in providing servers and related storage systems, software and services to information systems users worldwide. The company, with headquarters in Westboro, Mass., reported revenues of $1.16 billion during fiscal 1995.

Additional information on the company, its products and services is available on the Internet at http://www.dg.com. -0-

AViiON is a registered trademark of Data General Corp. All brand and product names appearing in the press release may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Please see related Data General release, "Data General Launches Data Warehousing Initiative," and releases from third party participants in Data General's Business Warehouse Program, including: Carleton Corp., CFT Consulting, Cognos, Dimensional Insight, Informix Software, IQ Software, Masterpack Integrated Business Solutions, Oracle Corp., Planning Sciences, Praxis International, SAS Institute, STS Systems and Sybase.

CONTACT: Data General

Jim Dunlap, 508/898-6546

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Edelman Worldwide

John Satterfield, 415/968-4033