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INDUSTRY ANALYST REPORTS DATA DISCOVERY FUNDAMENTAL TO DATA MANAGEMENT; MERITS UNIQUE MARKET SEGMENT

Two New Bloor Research Reports Analyze Data Discovery Market; Name Composite Software as Only Structured Data Search Supplier Focusing on Data Discovery, Business Intelligence

SAN MATEO, CALIF. — March 16, 2009 – Composite Software, the best-of-breed data virtualization leader, today announced it has been recognized for its Composite Discovery product as the only structured data search vendor that focuses on both data discovery and business intelligence (BI). The recognition is cited in one of two recent, independent reports analyzing the current data discovery market by Bloor Research, a leading analyst firm headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Written by industry-renowned author and data expert, Philip Howard, research director of Data at Bloor Research, the two reports--“Data Discovery, a Market Update” and “Data Discovery, a Spotlight Report by Bloor Research”--were published in late February 2009.

In the market update report, Composite Software, who is not a report sponsor, is identified as a “Champion,” one of three vendor categories: “Champion,” “Innovator” and “Challenger.” The market update report further identifies four distinct approaches to data discovery including the structured data search approach used in Composite Discovery, summarizing, “In the structured search space, Composite Software (Composite Discovery) is the only supplier that we know of that focuses on data discovery as well as business intelligence,…” The spotlight report concludes that the up-and-coming data discovery market category has outgrown its origins in data profiling and data quality, taking a more significant role in a minimum of eleven popular data management methods, and therefore merits its own market category.

“Data discovery or, more precisely, data relationship discovery, is of fundamental importance to a wide range of functions ranging from business intelligence through master data management to data governance and data archival,” writes Howard in the introduction of his spotlight report. “Nevertheless, it has not traditionally been treated as a market or requirement in its own right…. it is time to consider the importance of data discovery, and its requirements, as a market in its own right.”

The spotlight report describes how data discovery supports the following data management methods:

Master data management (MDM);
Data migration;
Legacy migration;
Data archival;
Data de-identification (the removal of data identifiers for security reasons);
Data warehousing;
Modeling;
Data integration;
Data quality;
Data governance; and
Business intelligence (BI).

The spotlight report concludes that data discovery (specifically data relationship discovery) should no longer be treated as a subset of data profiling. “The larger and more distributed IT resources are, the more benefits derived from appropriate data discovery products,” Howard’s report states. The report’s conclusion contains a caveat that there is no single tool currently available to offer every capability outlined in the report, and therefore potential buyers should apply due diligence in determining which products or combination of products meet their needs.

Commenting on the reports, Composite Software’s VP of Marketing, Robert Eve, said, “We’ve worked hard to develop data virtualization technology that integrates both data integration and data discovery functionality to help enterprises and public agencies reduce their data complexity and adapt faster to continual changes in the business environment. Our Composite Information Server™ and Composite Discovery™ comprise the engine that delivers data virtualization benefits such as reducing the time and costs of data integration.”

Copies of both Bloor Research reports are available upon request from http://www.compositesw.com/devzone/.

About Composite Discovery

As a plug and play appliance, Composite Discovery enables IT professionals to find enterprise data, and then discover inherent relationships across the data, regardless of source or location. Further, Discovery users can generate integrated data models enabling them to access and show live data, making it easier to quickly validate business requirements with end users. After refining the model by adding and filtering data, Discovery automates the transfer of data to data integration environments or other consuming applications. For more information, visit http://www.compositesw.com/products/discovery.shtml.

About Composite Software

Composite Software, Inc. is the leading independent provider of data virtualization software for IT and business professionals. The company’s solutions discover and deliver information—across multiple locations and disparate data sources—to help enterprises solve day-to-day business problems faster, for less. Expanding from its roots in enterprise information integration (EII), Composite’s solutions provide an important link between enterprise data and the desktop, complementing traditional physical data integration, while delivering greater flexibility and control for hundreds of customers, including five of the top six U.S. investment banks, seven of the top ten pharmaceutical companies, software vendors including Cognos, Informatica and BMC, and U.S. Defense and Intelligence agencies. Founded in 2002, Composite Software is a privately held, venture-funded corporation based in Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit www.compositesw.com.

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