French software developer Business Objects SA Monday rebranded two software products it acquired through its purchase of privately held data integration specialist Acta Technology Inc. It also announced that it will include data integration in its range of professional services.
Acta developed software to extract, analyze and cache data from ERP (enterprise resource planning) and other back-office systems.
Business Objects has rebranded two of Acta's software tools. ActaWorks has become BusinessObjects Data Integrator and Acta's eCache has been renamed BusinessObjects Rapid Marts.
"It's a first stage of integration into Business Objects' catalog. There has been no modification of the products themselves: the Acta products complement our existing range, so we're offering them just as they are," said Fran�ois Trouillet, marketing manager for Business Objects in France.
Data Integrator can be used to reconcile and consolidate real-time and batch data from disparate sources, with interfaces to access data from sources complying with the SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) specifications, and with software from PeopleSoft Inc., Siebel Systems Inc., Oracle Corp., IBM Corp. and SAP AG, according to a statement from Business Objects.
Rapid Marts is packaged software for building data marts, enabling the construction of data marts to simplify the analysis of data from enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the company said.
Both software packages are available for Windows NT and Unix systems, according to the statement.
Business Objects plans to offer other, more fully integrated, Acta products in its range before the end of the year, "But I don't yet have the final roadmap," Trouillet said.
The company also announced plans to add a data integration practice to its professional services division. The company has consultants around the world, the statement said.
Business Objects, with dual headquarters in San Jose, California, and Paris, announced in July its intention to acquire the Mountain View, California, company for approximately US$65 million in cash.
The fate of Acta's staff has not been finalized. "Each country is handling things differently in accordance with local legislation," Trouillet said. "Most have joined Business Objects, but the integration (of the two workforces) is being handled progressively," he said.
