Ascential Aims To Ease IntegrationAscential Aims To Ease Integration

Ascential Software Corp.'s new Ascential Real-Time Integration Services lets enterprise applications tap into Ascential's data-quality management and data-transformation tools in real time. The software, unveiled last week, uses Web services, Enterprise JavaBeans, and Java Messaging Service standards to link enterprise applications with Ascential's data-transformation and -management tools. That, for example, will let a business combine data from multiple supply-chain systems, transform it into a consistent format, and load it into a single billing system, on the fly.

Ascential also revealed release 7.0 of its flagship Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite, which includes data profiling, data-quality management, data-transformation, parallel-processing, and metadata-management software. Enhancements include support for Red Hat Linux and IBM z/OS Unix systems, support for Unicode national language standards, and an "intelligent assistant" natural-language tool that guides developers through the process of building integration programs.

Ascential Enterprise Integration Suite 7.0 and Ascential RTI Services will be available in July. Pricing for individual modules ranges from $90,000 to $180,000; the suite starts at $450,000.