Trillium Software announced general availability of Trillium Software Discovery Version 4, a data discovery solution in use at such global enterprises as British Telecom, EDS, Ford Motor Company, and a broad range of other companies around the world.
The announcement marks another key milestone in Trillium Software's integration of Discovery from the former Avellino Technologies, which was acquired by Harte-Hanks and merged into Trillium Software in February 2004, says the company
Trillium Software Discovery Version 4 adds newly developed, client-driven data discovery capabilities, including automated data monitoring, business rule validation, trend analysis and the generation of alerts when data quality anomalies are found. The introduction of business rule validation empowers users to define their own unique business rules, measure how well their data supports them and identify exceptions to those rules that must be rectified to avoid costly inefficiencies and damage to both business and IT [information technology] operations.
"The appropriate establishment of business rules is unique to each organisation," said Len Dubois, vice president of marketing for Trillium Software at Harte-Hanks. "Trillium Software Discovery Version 4 allows organisations to develop rules that ensure data are in compliance with their specific business needs. Being able to run your own business rules and monitor data, regardless of point of entry, reduces issues commonly associated with enterprise failure, lost revenue, increased operational costs, and those that may cause organisations to risk non-compliance with regulatory issues such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA [Health Information Portability and Accountability Act], and the U.S.A. Patriot Act."
This version also introduces user-definable Data Standard Definitions (DSDs) for setting data structure, content conditions and thresholds. Reporting of these factors may be automated and added to Discovery's built-in profiling and data discovery functionality.
Trillium Software Discovery integrates directly with the Trillium Software System for data matching, standardisation and linking. Through the Discovery interface, users are able to exchange data and metadata, thereby enhancing and accelerating the process of data discovery, data cleansing and data quality assessment. Increased capabilities for integration with other applications through XML-compliant interfaces are also available in this version.
"What began as basic data profiling has evolved into functionally rich technologies that go beyond merely identifying data quality problems," said META Group Vice President Andreas Bitterer. "By adding business rules and supporting standards-based integration, organisations can continuously monitor data quality within their key business processes. By reacting immediately to alerts, they can leverage greater business value from those processes."