Software AG's Open Data Warehouse Program Wins Its Third Award in Less Than Two Years; Software AG and the State of Minnesota Win DCI Excellence in Business Information Award

Business Wire, Feb 14, 1996

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 1996--Software AG, a dynamic leader in the growing data warehouse market, today announced that its Open Data Warehouse Program received DCI's Excellence in Business Information Award for its work with the State of Minnesota. This is the third award that the Open Data Warehouse Program has received since the program was launched in October 1994. Last May, Software AG received the DB/Expo RealWare Award for Data Warehousing for its collaboration with The ERTL Company, Inc., and in December, the program won the Datamation QUEST Award for Data Warehousing for its work with the State of Minnesota.

DCI, in conjunction with Enterprise Systems Journal, awarded the Excellence in Business Information Award to the State of Minnesota for working with Software AG to build a data warehouse for the Information Access component of the Statewide Systems Project (SSP). The award criteria included: Use of Technology; Benefits to Users; Improvements in Productivity and/or Efficiency; Impact on the Organization; and Completeness and Quality of Submission.

The award-winning Minnesota project consisted of building a centralized, statewide data warehouse, and installing a common reporting tool to all state agencies. The State's new data warehouse is one of the largest statewide data warehouses in the country, and has helped the State to run more efficiently, allowing end-users to access information on an ad hoc basis; eliminating distribution of paper reports; ending the data entry duplication by user agencies; and eliminating the constant wait to receive programmed reports.

Software AG consultants provided the State's IS staff with instant access to expertise and rapid implementation based on a methodology designed to provide results in 90-day increments, thereby speeding up the development process. The State was able to save money by utilizing Software AG's tools and services to automate functions and to streamline data extraction, data filtering, rules transformation, data reformatting, and output creation. The State's data warehouse includes information from new PeopleSoft human resources and payroll systems, Minnesota Accounting and Procurement System (MAPS), with future plans to include data from the Biennial Budget System (BBS).

"Our data warehouse has empowered our end-users by giving them easy access to the information they need, when they need it," said Debra Bean-Johnson, Director of Information Access Services and Budget Information Systems at the State of Minnesota. "Software AG technology and expertise helped to ensure that we were able to build a data warehouse to meet our specific needs."

"Software AG is committed to finding new ways to combine technical expertise and state-of-the-art technology to solve the information needs of all types of organizations," said Richard Rist, director of Software AG's Open Data Warehouse Program. "Our work with the State of Minnesota, in partnership with Carleton Corporation, is an example of how our Professional Services Consultants can work with an organization to help them build better solutions."

Software AG's strategic partnerships offer customers a complete solution that covers all areas involved in the complex data warehouse architecture. These partners include: Carleton Corporation, developers of Passport(a), an industry-leading data extraction tool, and MicroStrategy, Inc., developers of industry- leading decision support software for OLAP applications. Passport(a), DSS Agent(a), DSS Architect(a), DSS Server(a) and DSS Executive(a), Esperant, SourcePoint (which received industry praise as a finalist for the 1995 Datamation Product of the Year), as well as other Software AG offerings, provide the industry's most comprehensive line of products and services for building and maintaining a complete data warehousing solution.

Software AG and The ERTL Company, an international toy manufacturer with sales of over $200 million, won the DB/Expo RealWare Award for their entry in the category, "Data Warehousing to Provide New Business Opportunities." ERTL's data warehouse provides users with easy access to up-to-date market information, which assists the company in making informed business decisions. The DB/Expo RealWare Award recognizes excellence in IT solutions for innovative use of technology, efficient use of resources, and delivery of measurable results to the user.

Software AG also won a Datamation QUEST Award for Data Warehousing (Quality and Excellence In Service and Training) for its work with the State of Minnesota. The QUEST awards acknowledge those IS organizations that have made the most effective use of information technology service providers.

Software AG is the 10th largest independent software firm in the world. With 26 years of successful enterprise-wide experience, the company develops and markets open, multi-platform software solutions. Its products include: ENTIRE for developing and deploying distributed computing solutions; NATURAL, MIDRANGE Systems "Buyer's Choice Award," for application engineering; award-winning ESPERANT, a state-of-the-art query and reporting tool (and winner of PC Week Labs "Top Product of the Year," and the 1994 Datamation "Editor's Choice Award"); and ADABAS for database management. In 1994, Software AG launched a successful Open Data Warehouse Program that has already garnered three awards: DB Expo's RealWare Award in Data Warehousing in collaboration with The ERTL Company, Inc., and a 1995 Datamation Quest Award for data warehousing for its collaboration with the State of Minnesota.