Prism Directory Manager 2.5 Provides Expanded MetaLink for Sharing Data Warehouse Meta Data with Decision Support Tools.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 1996--Prism Solutions, Inc., a leader in data warehouse management software, today announced Prism Directory Manager(tm) 2.5, a new release of software that makes it easier to understand, navigate and use a data warehouse by building an integrated Information Directory of its contents expressed in both business and technical terms.

Highlights of the 2.5 release include the ability to share new types of meta data, or information about the data in the warehouse, via a meta data exchange capability called a MetaLink(tm). The MetaLink establishes a common layer of meta data between Prism Directory Manager and data warehouse access and analysis tools. Prism Directory Manager 2.5 also adds support for Teradata as a server database on UNIX platforms, and a Windows 95 client for both PDM Builder and PDM Navigator seats that connect users to the Information Directory.

According to Jim Ashbrook, president of Prism Solutions, "The new release of Prism Directory Manager reflects the ongoing cooperative efforts between Prism, our customers and our business partners to create an industry-standard solution for managing and integrating data warehouse meta data. By extending the meta data links and platform support in Prism Directory Manager, we are actively addressing today's market requirements for effective meta data management."

MetaLink Creates Common Meta Data Layer

The Prism Directory Manager MetaLink capability provides a standard SQL interface for accessing the meta data in the Information Directory. It works with tools such as Brio Technology's BrioQuery, Business Objects' BUSINESSOBJECTS, Cognos' Impromptu, Information Advantage's DecisionSuite, MicroStrategy's DSS Agent and DSS Architect, and other tools that can read SQL.

By creating a common layer of meta data between tools, the MetaLink helps to ensure the accuracy and consistency of meta data throughout the warehouse environment, and simplifies the management and administration of both the meta data and the data warehouse.

With the MetaLink, decision support tools can provide their users a seamless view of both the meta data and the data in the warehouse. Not only does this make it easier for users to identify and retrieve relevant information for analysis, it also allows them to draw more meaningful conclusions by helping them to understand the business information in context with its physical implementation in the warehouse.

The MetaLink shares meta data describing business subject areas, business items, tables, columns, primary keys and foreign keys in the data warehouse. With the 2.5 release, it now also provides data type and column length information. By indicating whether a column value is a character, integer or something else, "data type" lets a decision support tool know whether it can perform calculations on the field. By indicating how long a column is, "column length" lets a decision support tool know how much data will be returned from a search. In the case of very long columns, the tool could then notify the user to expect a longer response time.

"Many organizations are faced with the challenge of using and managing meta data. With the proliferation of data warehouses, this problem has grown and the need for solutions has become more critical," said Patty Nghiem, vice president of business development, Business Objects. "Now, with the combination of BUSINESSOBJECTS and Prism Directory Manager, we can provide our mutual customers a complete solution that delivers powerful query, reporting and OLAP capabilities, with minimal set-up and maintenance, and without recreating the meta data."

About Prism Directory Manager

Serving as the open card catalog for the data warehouse, Prism Directory Manager integrates business and technical meta data from multiple sources to build a centralized Information Directory. It creates a comprehensive view of warehouse information expressed in both business and technical terms, helping users understand what data is in the warehouse, where to find the data, the original sources and definitions of the data, the transformations applied during development and the changes that have occurred over time.

Using a robust, object-based information model, Prism Directory Manager integrates business information from CASE tools, repositories and flat files, with the technical meta data and transformation logic captured by Prism Warehouse Manager(tm) and Prism Change Manager(tm) during the development and maintenance processes. In addition to exchanging meta data with decision support tools via the MetaLink capability, Prism Directory Manager exports meta data in CDIF (CASE Data Interchange Format) to repositories, supplementing their base of information about the content and structure of the data warehouse.

Prism Directory Manager 2.5 is a client/server software suite comprised of three components: PDM Builder, PDM Navigator and the Information Directory. Supported server databases include Informix, Oracle, Sybase and Teradata on UNIX platforms, as well as DB2 on MVS platforms. Clients run under Windows 95, Windows 3.x or OS/2 2.1.

Pricing and Availability

Prism Directory Manager 2.5 will be available June 30 and is licensed for $40,000 for UNIX-based databases and $55,000 for DB2. The license fee includes the Information Directory and one Builder seat. Optional Navigator seats are available in sets of 10 for $5000. CASE import options or MetaLink options are licensed for $10,000 each.

About Prism Solutions

Founded in 1991, Prism Solutions (NASDAQ: PRZM) is a leader in data warehouse management software for building, maintaining and navigating data warehouses. Prism Solutions' products and services enable a variety of projects, such as building decision-support systems, enhancing client/server applications and migrating data between different computing platforms.

Prism Solutions helps customers meet strategic business goals through data warehousing solutions that support customer relationship management, profitability measurement, market segmentation, risk management, procurement and other critical business applications.

Prism Solutions' customers include leading companies in the finance, health care, insurance, manufacturing, public utilities, retail, telecommunications, transportation and technology industries. In addition to its corporate headquarters located in Sunnyvale, California, Prism Solutions has regional offices in seven U.S. cities and international offices in Canada, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom.

More information about Prism Solutions can be found by visiting the company's Web site at http://www.prismsolutions.com. -0-

Note to Editors: MetaLink, PRISM, Prism Change Manager, Prism Directory Manager and Prism Warehouse Manager are trademarks of Prism Solutions, Inc. Other trademarks belong to their respective holders.

CONTACT: Prism Solutions, Inc.

Debbie Benoit or Cynthia Schmidt, 408/752-1888

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Blanc & Otus

Mary Cobb, 415/512-0500

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