Venetica Partners With IBM to Deliver New Integration Solution for Structured and Unstructured Information

Innovative Partnership Extends the Reach of Enterprise Information Integration and Content Management Applications to Disparate Content Sources

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 27, 2004 -- Venetica, the leading provider of enterprise content integration (ECI) software, today announced a marketing and technology partnership with IBM (NYSE: IBM) that enables customers to access and work with a broad range of structured and unstructured information through a single SQL-based query. Under the partnership, customers will be able to extend the reach of business applications that utilize IBM DB2 Information Integrator to leverage content from more than 20 common content repositories supported by VeniceBridge, Venetica's ECI platform.

The combination of Venetica and IBM technology allows customers to access and work with all enterprise information as business needs demand, spanning customer information, financials, transactions and other structured data typically stored in databases, as well as documents, images, reports, email, rich media and other unstructured information typically stored in content management systems. The result is a robust solution for integrating with all enterprise information through a single interface regardless of data type or location. "Historically, the management of structured and unstructured data have been handled by distinct architecture, standards and technology components," said Doug Laney, Vice President, META Group, "However, our research indicates a sharp spike in interest among enterprises in consolidating, or at least coordinating, the breadth of information flows throughout their organization and among their partners, customers and suppliers. We believe that the consistent management and access of structured and unstructured information can result in measurable business performance improvements for organizations." With today's news, Venetica is introducing the VeniceBridge Wrapper for IBM DB2 Information Integrator. The VeniceBridge Wrapper enables structured access, via SQL, to VeniceBridge unstructured content sources through DB2 Information Integrator. This collaboration extends applications such as customer service, compliance, medical research or law enforcement to encompass a broad range of structured and unstructured content sources.

Businesses today are faced with the challenge to drive more value from their existing information assets. IBM DB2 Information Integrator software addresses this critical pain point and simplifies information management by integrating diverse and distributed information in real-time, regardless of where the data resides, providing customers with a single view of their business information. In addition, using a single query, the software enables access and integration of both proprietary and emerging data sources, including structured and unstructured data, as if it was stored in one place.

Venetica provides customers with a single interface to content across disparate environments. Unlike other offerings that create copies of documents and meta-data, Venetica solutions provide a real-time virtual view of content and workflow in place. Venetica's approach exposes the full, two-way functionality of underlying content management and workflow systems, respects the security of those systems, and adds federation services such as federated search and cross-repository synchronization. Venetica provides tools to easily develop enterprise applications that connect to any content system, and out- of-the-box bridges to over 20 leading systems such as those from IBM, Lotus, Documentum, FileNet, Microsoft, Open Text and Verity.

"IBM is committed to work with Business Partners to take advantage of DB2 Information Integrator's real-time information integration capabilities to help customers gain a faster return on their information assets," said Jon Prial, vice president of marketing, DB2 Information Management Solutions. "The combination of VeniceBridge and DB2 Information Integrator will provide customers with transparent access to the widest variety of unstructured content to help drive more value from their business assets."

The joint offerings allow customers to capitalize on information across an enterprise. For example, a diversified financial services firm growing through acquisition might use the joint solution to quickly combine key operations. The solution would enable call center agents to access integrated information -- customer data, interest rates, mortgage applications, product collateral, call scripts, etc. -- from the previously separate organizations, using a single interface. With this solution, the firm could reduce call handling costs and maintain customer satisfaction, accelerating return on investment for the acquisition.

"Making unstructured data as easily accessible as structured data has tremendous implications for virtually every corporation and government agency," said Stuart Levinson, president and CEO, Venetica. "The ability to identify, access, analyze and act on all information in real-time enables true insight and innovation."

The VeniceBridge Wrapper for IBM DB2 Information Integrator is available immediately from Venetica.

About Venetica

Venetica is the leading provider of enterprise content integration (ECI) software. The company's flagship product, VeniceBridge(R), enables multiple, disparate content repositories to work as a single unified system. By providing a real-time, virtual interface to enterprise content and business process, Venetica helps companies reduce the cost and complexity of business critical initiatives such as improving customer service, complying with regulations and consolidating operations following a merger. Venetica partners with leading software vendors and system integrators in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region to deliver solutions around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.venetica.com .

Venetica and VeniceBridge are registered trademarks of Venetica. IBM, DB2, DB2 Information Integrator and DB2 Content Manager are registered trademarks of IBM Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Venetica

Web Site: http://www.venetica.com