FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For CenterBoard:
Scott R. Humphrey
Humphrey Strategic Communications
(503) 644-9709
humphrey@strategic-pr.com



PLEASANTON, Calif. – November 1, 2004 – CenterBoard, the Virtual ODS company™, today debuted the CenterBoard Integrator, a network-based Virtual Operational Data Store (Virtual ODS) that delivers right-time access to information across and beyond the enterprise as if it were a single database, without copying data. Augmenting the traditional data storage methodologies of the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) and Operational Data Store (ODS) noted in Bill Inmon’s Corporate Information Factory, CenterBoard Integrator™ saves customers as much as 90% of the cost and time of these alternative solutions by eliminating the need to copy and move data. Cost savings also come in the form of reduced integration engineering time, and hardware and software costs.

“CenterBoard’s Virtual ODS offers companies a dramatic paradigm shift in time and money for putting information in the hands of the people who need it to run their business,” said Thomas Henn, CenterBoard’s president and CEO. “With implementations measured in days or weeks and at cost savings up to 90% compared to building a centralized ODS, CenterBoard Integrator can revolutionize an enterprise’s Business Intelligence strategy.”

CenterBoard Integrator is a breakthrough solution that fuses networking paradigms with database technology to provide a highly scalable, intelligent and easily configurable Virtual ODS. Emerging from work originally deployed for a U.S. Army Command and Control application, with six patents pending, CenterBoard’s Virtual ODS enables users to launch queries over the net from any application that generates SQL or XML queries. Through the use of highly compact content-based bit vectors, queries are routed automatically only to those data sources where relevant data is stored. Secure and accurate result sets are then returned to users in right time. And adding a new data source to the network is as easy as attaching a computer to a network.

“CenterBoard’s new Virtual ODS is the latest addition to the Corporate Information Factory,” said Bill Inmon, president of Inmon Data Systems and father of the Data Warehouse concept. “In fact CenterBoard’s Virtual ODS is the most significant addition since the ODS and EDW were recognized as two separate data storage constructs.”

CenterBoard Integrator Benefits
CenterBoard Integrator is an all software solution that runs on lightweight Intel hardware platforms (supports Windows and Linux). It fits seamlessly between distributed, heterogeneous data sources and front-end tools and applications. CenterBoard Integrator results in the following customer benefits:

• Instant Attach™ - Instead of hand-coding specific queries for extraction, CenterBoard automatically identifies tables and columns for profiling and creates compact, content-based dynamic bit vector indexes. Once the new data source is part of the Virtual ODS, it is readily available for query.
• Networked Scalability – At the heart of CenterBoard’s Virtual ODS are Dynamic Query Routers (DQRs), which ensure scalability of the system from 5 to 10 to 100 to 1000’s of data sources, within and beyond the enterprise, quickly and easily. Like a network data router, DQRs form a network of information about where item-level detail data resides. As queries hit the network looking for a specific item, the DQRs create dynamic data flow paths that route the request quickly to only those data sources that have that information.
• Quick Queries™ – Rather than broadcasting a query to all data sources, or sending multiple messages across a bus, CenterBoard efficiently sends queries only to those data sources where the data resides.
• Operational Friendly – By routing queries to only those data sources where relevant information exists, production systems and networks are unburdened. In addition, CenterBoard recognizes that the person who knows the most about the data is the one who controls the data source. CenterBoard’s data transformations are created, maintained and stored locally at the data source.
• Seamless Integration – CenterBoard’s Virtual ODS fits seamlessly into existing environments. At the front end, CenterBoard’s ODBC and JDBC interfaces ensure integration with front-end query tools, web portals, existing applications, and report writers that generate industry-standard SQL or XML. At the back end, the Virtual ODS interfaces to every data source imaginable.
• Secure Access – CenterBoard’s Virtual ODS provides the most secure access to information over a LAN or WAN and runs on existing IP networks. It was built from the ground up to keep data secure: from discovery and authentication of servers in the Dynamic Query Router to encrypted data to fine-grained access control.

Pricing and Availability
CenterBoard is also unveiling its CenterPoint™ Partner Program for systems integrators (SIs) and ISVs today, and CenterBoard Integrator is now available from the company’s SI partners. [Please see related news release entitled “CenterBoard Launches CenterPoint Partner Program”.] The price for CenterBoard Integrator ranges from $50,000 to $500,000, depending on number and types of data sources.

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About CenterBoard
CenterBoard is a privately held company whose network-based Virtual Operational Data Store (Virtual ODS) is breaking new ground in combining network and database technologies to fundamentally change the way enterprises integrate data. The Virtual ODS delivers right-time access to information across and beyond the enterprise as if it were a single database, without copying data. The company has built a strong management team with expertise across both the database and networking fields. As early employees of other successful start-ups, including Red Brick Systems, Cloudscape, CopperCom, Auspex and Portal, the management team has a depth of experience in growing early-stage companies to become market leaders. CenterBoard can be contacted via telephone at 925-924-1050, fax at 925-924-1057, and the Internet at www.centerboard.com.