Quote Sheet

The OLAP Council

Following are a few quotes from a sampling of OLAP vendors, platform vendors and consultants/system integrators announcing support of the OLAP Council’s MDAPI 2.0:

"ACG intends to incorporate the Multi-Dimensional API into our ACG Active OLAP Suite product line as soon as possible," said Bob Gomez, Vice President, Application Consulting Group Inc. "The object based architecture of the MDAPI specification assures faster and more efficient development of applications. Its open architecture assures portability across platforms and application development tools. As a standard interface to multidimensional data, the API simplifies the development efforts necessary to support multiple database servers within a single application."

"Applix is committed to open, interoperable standards and we continue to support the Council in its efforts which benefit the entire OLAP market," said Perry Cozzone, director of business development for Applix TM1. "We look forward to participating in continued development of the Council's MDAPI as a way to further expand the tool choices available to our customers."

Cognos intends to fully support the OLAP Council's MDAPI in a future version of PowerPlay, further extending Cognos’ long-standing support for multiple OLAP data sources. "Cognos welcomes this announcement," explained Paul Hill, Cognos vice president of Strategic Partners and Marketing Programs. "An industry-wide API broadens the appeal of OLAP and extends PowerPlay's reach to an even wider audience. A means of accessing multidimensional data cubes from a wider range of vendors is good news for PowerPlay customers - it enhances the value that they receive from their investment in Cognos software."

"The Council’s API initiative will become widely adopted by vendors. It will enable users to mix and match heterogeneous OLAP servers and have all OLAP data accessible through a standard interface," said Erik Thomsen, president of Dimensional Systems , a consulting firm specializing in OLAP and visualization applications, and author of OLAP Solutions: Building Multidimensional Information Systems. "Vendors of front-end software for OLAP servers will have a robust and full-featured API, which will allow them to provide powerful new capabilities for their customers."

"Infospace is committed to open solutions for decision support, and we fully support the OLAP Council’s efforts to implement an even broader version of the MDAPI, said Stan Wang, president and CEO of Infospace, Inc. "We are especially pleased to see the Council recognize the importance of Java as a key technology in the future of data access and distribution. As one of the very first companies to build a working implementation of the MDAPI, we recognize the tremendous benefit of a mature, robust interface for both customers and vendors. Open standards, such as the OLAP Council MDAPI, promote choice and flexibility, allowing everyone to focus on building the best possible solution."

"MSA is pleased to support standards that eliminate the need for a dataset layer in our BusinessWEB product, creating a common communication method," said Kathy Eisner, MSA's vice president of business analysis systems. "An API that enables BusinessWEB to communicate cross-vendor and cross-platform benefits our customers, enabling them to work with and analyze data quickly and efficiently."

MSA will support the OLAP Council's MDAPI 2.0 industry standard in 1998, as well as maintaining and updating support for other OLAP platform API’s. MSA, a member of the OLAP Council since 1996, is committed to promoting open standards for the OLAP industry, while also supporting the unique, value added aspects of major database platform API's.

"NCR Corporation, the industry leader in data warehousing solutions with its parallel Teradata database, recognizes the importance of evolving standards, particularly in the area of decision support applications for OLAP and data mining," said Dan Harrington, vice president of Data Warehouse Marketing at NCR. "The OLAP Council's MDAPI 2.0 will become Teradata's native API, allowing us to provide an object-oriented OLAP interface for Teradata to support from small to very large data warehousing systems."

"Netscape is pleased to support the OLAP council's MDAPI as a key open standard for interoperability, " said Marty Cagan, vice president of platform and tools at Netscape. "Because MDAPI supports the heterogenous computing environment that customers require, it is ideal for developing applications that link people and businesses together over the Internet, Intranets, and Extranets."

"As the demand for enterprise-wide analytical capabilities grows, the OLAP market is clearly moving toward non-proprietary technologies like the Web and Java/CORBA," said Jeffrey Stamen, Senior Vice President of Oracle’s OLAP Products Division. "Oracle is supporting the OLAP Council’s MDAPI 2.0 as our native interface for Oracle Express because it is consistent with our commitment to provide customers with open, interoperable soutions based on accepted industry standards."

"Pilot Software is pleased to announce our intention to support the OLAP Council's API as part of our commitment to provide comprehensive solutions for customers who need the best business information, said John D’Albis, vice president of development at Pilot Software. "Pilot has been a leading contributor to this effort from the start as one of the founding members of the OLAP Council. We see this event as a milestone in the OLAP industry since it establishes the open standards that are necessary for establishing the infrastructure for more cost-effective innovation and solution delivery."

PLATINUM technology, inc. announced today its intent to support the OLAP Council's API standards. The first PLATINUM tools to support the standards will be PLATINUM InfoBeacon, an advanced OLAP solution for data warehouses, and PLATINUM Perspectives for Market Analysis, a new decision support environment that uses OLAP technology to analyze product line profitability. "The OLAP Council APIs provide cross-platform, vendor-neutral standards for OLAP in heterogeneous enterprise environments," said Thomas DePasquale, senior vice president of data warehouse solutions for PLATINUM. "As a founding member of the OLAP Council, we are encouraged by the coopetition among the members to provide the best solution for all OLAP customers."

"A cross platform, cross product, open API in the OLAP space will ultimately benefit our clients," said Michael J. Schroeck, Managing Partner of the Price Waterhouse Global Data Warehouse Practice. "Solving complex business problems is often facilitated through the flexibility of open standards. The OLAP Council's MDAPI will help address the complex issues of maintaining extensive global knowledge management architectures."

"As a recognized leader in the open systems market, Sun is pleased to support the OLAP Council's efforts to provide a standard for cross-platform, cross-vendor OLAP interoperability," said Mark Tolliver, VP of Market Development at Sun Microsystems. "With the emergence of Java as the standard for network computing environments, any proposed specification for the rapidly growing OLAP market which does not explicitly incorporate Java and other non-proprietary technologies would fall short of what the market demands."