Combining data from multiple sources, managing data over time, and support the semantic rules governing the data throughout lifecycle changes – including definitional characteristics modifications, may require more modern and flexible data structures than previously known.
Analysts at IDC say 'relational database management systems are inherently limited in their ability to provide such support.'
It was this realisation that prompted Simon Williams to found Lazy Software,the most exciting British technology company of 2001 and developer of Sentences, a highly innovative database management system written in Java and based on the Associative Model of Data.
According to IDC, 'Sentences appears to offer clear and compelling benefits in a number of key areas of data management that are not especially well served by relational or object-relational DBMS technology.' They concludes, 'Sentences represents the rebirth of an old idea; that databases are about more than just storing and retrieving structured data, but are about maintaining repositories of useful information and recombining it in different ways to make it even more useful. Relational DBMSs are not set up to handle such a task.'
”IDC has very quickly understood the differences and relative values of the associative and relational models” says Williams “It is heartening to see a research group grasp the issues so completely and understand the implications. As we evangelise the associative model to a world well versed in the relational model over a long period, we look to attract such comments and converts along the way."
The associative model of data (AMD)is the first new database architecture since the advent of the Internet, and the only model to take account of its unique needs, and Sentences the first product implementation of the model