Sybase Unveils First Information Architecture Tool

LAS VEGAS, Sept. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sybase, Inc., an SAP® company (NYSE: SAP) and industry leader in enterprise and mobile software, today announced Sybase® PowerDesigner® 16, extending PowerDesigner to improve the alignment between business with IT. With over 20 years invested in data architecture and enterprise architecture, Sybase PowerDesigner is recognized as one of the leading modeling and metadata management solutions on the market, and with the new features of version 16, PowerDesigner is enabling forward thinking companies to achieve a clear and consistent Information Architecture throughout their enterprise. Today's announcement was made at Sybase TechWave, collocated with SAP® TechEd 2011 and being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, from September 12-16.

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The latest release of PowerDesigner offers a model-driven approach to empowering and aligning business and IT, with features that address the growing Information Architecture market. PowerDesigner 16 establishes cross-discipline business and technical definitions for a single version of accurate, key information assets.  The integration of business and IT metadata managed in a single tool streamlines an organization's data governance, business intelligence, integration and consolidation efforts. Coupled with PowerDesigner 16's new repository-based enterprise-wide impact analysis, organizations will significantly reduce the time, risk and cost associated with change throughout the entire information architecture.

"Key growth drivers for the worldwide modeling and architectural tools market include aligning IT with the business," said Stephen D. Hendrick group vice president of Application Development and Deployment Research at IDC. "Products such as PowerDesigner 16 are very effective at supporting this alignment when they employ an enterprise glossary and a user interface that can be completely customized by role."

"The real value of PowerDesigner 16 for Information Architecture is the combination of the Portal and the Glossary, which allows subject matter experts and stewards, to take control of the definitions that really matter to them," said George McGeachie of Metadata Matters, LLC, a Sybase PowerDesigner customer and a co-author along with Steve Hoberman of the upcoming book, Data Modeling Made Simple Using PowerDesigner." McGeachie added, "What's impressive is the fact that PowerDesigner 16's Glossary is not merely documentation, it is an important tool that makes it easier to follow naming conventions, and to cross-reference definitions with the organization's semantics."  

"We're supporting an evolution taking place where data architecture is no longer enough," said David Dichmann, director of product management at Sybase. "The need to create a connection between business and IT is driving today's better BI initiatives and the need to architect the information environment. The Information Architecture features found in PowerDesigner 16 allow for easy communication between business strategies and IT implementations, empowering enterprise architects to bridge the gap between the data and the enterprise."

With new pending implementation of initiatives like the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, virtually every aspect of financial services, insurance and retail will be greatly impacted by the increased requirements for data and risk management. With the greater focus on fully managing information assets, organizations require tools that enable them to cut costs and be more agile in unsettled economic times. The Information Architecture capabilities of PowerDesigner 16 now make it possible for companies to affordably implement the required data governance best practices by managing the flow of information between all phases of IT and Business.

"Many organizations still don't know what information they have or how to manage it. Nor do they know how to protect and secure it properly," said David Newman, vice president, Gartner Research. "Information has often been an afterthought – neglected by application development groups ('data is a business problem') or confusing to end users ('how is revenue calculated on this report?'). Without proper controls, organizations are needlessly exposed to risk and inefficiencies, especially when addressing regulatory, legal or compliance matters. The stakes are now high for both finance managers and CIOs, who can be found liable for inaccurate information, with the possibility of fines or prison sentences."(1)

New features of PowerDesigner 16 include:

• Support for over 80 RDBMSs, more than any other modeling tool in the industry
• Modernized, role-based user interface based on Windows 7 standards for improved usability and management  
• Enterprise Glossary features to ensure business terms and definitions are established and consistently managed throughout all models to ensure everyone is speaking the same language.  
• Improved Link & Sync technology With Impact Analysis in the repository ensures users are gathering all the connections throughout the entire enterprise to provide mission critical decision support
• The Power Designer Portal which ensures all users have full thin client access to all authorized metadata including graphics and full element definitions and descriptions for metadata sharing to broaden stakeholder communication and involvement
• The Portal Composer that allows for a broader community of users to make edits to key information directly through the web interface
• Sybase IQ Reference Architecture Advisor allows users to understand the scope and size of their specific requirements to facilitate the planning of their Sybase IQ implementation and makes PowerDesigner the only data modeling product to fully support all of Sybase IQ's unique features

Sybase PowerDesigner Information Architect became generally available on September 1, 2011. For more information on PowerDesigner please visit http://www.sybase.com/powerdesigner

For announcements, blog posts, videos and other coverage during the event, visit the SAP TechEd newsroom. Follow SAP and Sybase on Twitter at @sapmobile and @MobileWork.

Sybase TechWave 2011

Sybase's long-running TechWave conference is co-located with SAP TechEd, September 12-16 at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, NV. TechWave continues to deliver targeted training on Sybase products and offers attendees shared access to TechEd sessions and activities.

SAP® TechEd 2011 in Las Vegas, Bangalore, Madrid, and Beijing

More than 19,000 SAP customers, partners and technical experts are expected to convene at SAP® TechEd 2011, the company's largest ecosystem education event series. The conference brings IT managers, software developers, administrators, and business process experts together for a look under the hood of today's business motors: the latest advances in in-memory and mobile technologies, and in on-premise, on-demand and on-device applications from SAP and more. In its 15th year, SAP TechEd will be held in four locations around the globe: Las Vegas, Nevada, from September 12-16; Bangalore, India, from October 19-21; Madrid, Spain, from November 8-10; and Beijing, China, from November 15-17. Follow SAP TechEd on Twitter at @SAPTechEd and join the conversation at #SAPTechEd.

About Sybase

Sybase, an SAP® company, is an industry leader in delivering enterprise and mobile software to manage, analyze and mobilize information. We are recognized globally as a performance leader, proven in the most data-intensive industries and across all major systems, networks and devices. Our information management, analytics and enterprise mobility solutions have powered the world's most mission-critical systems in financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing and government. For more information: http://www.sybase.com. Read Sybase blogs: blogs.sybase.com. Follow us on Twitter at @Sybase and @MobileWork.

Sybase, PowerBuilder and DataWindow are registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc. ® indicates registration in the United States.  SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world.   All other product and service names mentioned may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

(1) Information Governance Strategies for a Compliance-Driven World, David Newman, Gartner Research, ID Number: G00146394, July, 2011

SOURCE Sybase, an SAP company

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