December 3, 1996 1:50 PM ET

Informix lines up DataBlade support for Universal Server
By Maria Seminerio

Informix Software Inc. announced today at DB/Expo in New York that it has lined up the support of dozens of vendors developing DataBlade modules for its Universal Server, which began shipping today. The company also took a thinly veiled swipe at its major database market rival, Oracle Corp., in press releases this morning trumpeting that Universal Server went out the door "on time"-a none-too-subtle reference to continuing delays in the release of Oracle8. Informix officials hope the support of companies such as NEC Corp., Verity Inc., Open Market Inc. and Eastman Kodak Co., which are developing some of the 80 DataBlade modules expected to roll out between now and the end of first-quarter 1997, will help Informix become a more formidable competitor to Oracle. The modules, which function as part of the Universal Server object-relational server, extend relational databases to add native support of specific data types, and plug directly into the database. End users can deploy single or multiple DataBlades to create a customized data management solution, Informix officials said. Among the DataBlades slated to roll out this month are data warehousing and financial modules from Consistency Point Technologies Inc., Electronic Digital Documents Inc., Expector Software Inc., and Informix; digital media modules from Excalibur Technologies Corp., Informix, Muscle Fish LLC, NEC and Virage Technologies Inc.; mapping and spatial modules from ECOlogic Corp., Informix and MapInfo Corp.; document management modules from Verity and Open Text Corp.; and electronic commerce modules from Informix, Open Market and VXtreme Inc. Other companies developing DataBlade modules for future release include Adobe Systems Inc., Data General Corp., IBM, Silicon Graphics Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Vivo Software Inc., Informix officials said. Also today, Informix officials announced an OEM agreement with Praxis International Inc., calling for Informix to sell and support Praxis' OmniReplicator data transport tool along with its Distributed Enterprise Solution for disseminating and consolidating data between Informix and legacy databases. Informix is based in Menlo Park, Calif. Copyright(c) 1996 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company is prohibited. PC Week and the PC Week logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. PC Week Online and the PC Week Online logo are trademarks of Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Send mail to PC Week