Microsoft buys Zoomix to add data quality to SQL Server
Microsoft has agreed to purchase Zoomix, a small Jerusalem company that provides data-quality technology, to bolster its SQL Server business, the company confirmed Monday.
Microsoft did not reveal the terms of the deal, which has been rumored since early June. Zoomix's Accelerator software combines semantic and linguistic analysis with machine learning to classify, match and standardize complex corporate data, according to the Zoomix Web site.
Microsoft plans to add Zoomix's technology to future releases of its SQL Server database, the company said through its public relations firm. Zoomix's development team will join the SQL Server team at Microsoft's research and development center in Israel, according to Zoomix.
Managing data has always been a problem for business customers, particularly large enterprises that have multiple instances of data stored in different systems that may vary slightly from each other.
Data-quality software helps automate the process of ensuring that data being entered and stored -- and later mined for decision-making -- is the most accurate.
"One of the problems we face today is that there is so much data out there, trying to figure out what's really important -- to get information, and from that information to get knowledge about what's happening -- is difficult," said Richard Ptak, managing partner of IT analyst firm Ptak, Noel & Associates.
Vendors that provide databases, business intelligence and data-management software increasingly are integrating automated data-quality capability into those products to improve the overall quality of an organization's data, he said.
Microsoft's plan to add automated data-quality technology to its database product, especially to the data-entry workflow, could greatly help the overall quality of data and reduce errors and inconsistencies, Ptak said. "You want to correct it as early in the stream as you can," he said.
Zoomix primarily targets the manufacturing, distribution, retail and financial enterprise vertical markets in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, according to its Web site.
IDG News Service
Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Backup Exec System Recovery 8 deliver industry leading Windows data protection and system recovery. Download this whitepaper to find out the top reasons to upgrade and how to get continuous data protection and complete system recovery.
Data and system loss — from a hard drive failure, malicious attack, natural disaster, or simple human error — can happen anytime. Don’t leave your business vulnerable. Make sure you have a secure recovery strategy in place. Symantec's latest backup and system recovery technology can efficiently restore critical applications, individual emails and documents and even restore your entire system in minutes in the event of a loss.
Businesses face a growing challenge to ensure that the IT environment is properly protected. Backup Exec 12 integrates with other applications in the Symantec family of products, to complement your current data protection strategy, keep your data securely backed up and make it recoverable when you need it most.
Crimeware: Understanding New Attacks and Defenses
By Markus Jakobsson, Zulfikar Ramzan
Published Apr 6, 2008 by Addison-Wesley Professional. Part of the Symantec Press series.
Enter now! | Official rules | Sample chapter
Securing VoIP Networks: Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Countermeasures
By Peter Thermos, Ari Takanen
Published Aug 1, 2007 by Addison-Wesley Professional.
Enter now! | Official rules | Sample chapter
