The conference featured 43 exhibition booths. The exhibit hall was open Tuesday (November 1) from 11:15 am to 2:15 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm and on Wednesday from 11:15 am to 2:15 pm. Classes were
scheduled around the exhibit hall hours. While the included “free lunches” and free dinner certainly helped attract attendees to the exhibition hall, it was the exhibits themselves that kept
their attention; most attendees seemed to visit most, if not all, of the booths and spend significant time at many of them.
As many exhibits featured multiple products and services, the following list focuses on the products or services that appeared to be their main attractions.
ANALYTIC APPLICATIONS
| Vendor | Product |
| DecisionPoint Software | DecisionPoint FPM Solutions |
| Siebel Business Analytics | Siebel Enterprise Analytics |
| Systems Union | MIS Enterprise Planning |
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TOOLS AND PLATFORMS
| Vendor | Product |
| Actuate | Enterprise Reporting, e.Spreadsheet |
| Business Objects | BusinessObjects XI Release 2 |
| Cognos | Cognos 8 Business Intelligence |
| Corda Technologies | CenterView (data visualization software) |
| Fair Isaac | Enterprise Decision Manager |
| Hyperion Solutions | Hyperion System 9 |
| Information Builders | WebFocus 7 |
| MicroStrategy | MicroStrategy 8 |
| Oracle | Oracle Business Intelligence 10g |
| SAP | Netweaver Business Intelligence |
| SAS | SAS9 Platform |
| Systems Union | MIS Decisonware, MIS DeltaMiner |
| Theoris | Theoris Vision (dashboard software) |
DATABASE AND DATA WAREHOUSE APPLIANCES
|
Vendor |
Product |
| DATAllegro | DATAllegro Data Warehouse Appliances |
| IBM | DB2 Data Warehouse Edition |
| Netezza | Netezza Performance Server |
| Sybase | Sybase IQ |
| Teradata, a division of NCR | Teradata Warehouse |
DATA INTEGRATION
|
Vendor |
Product |
| Ab Initio | Co>Operating System |
| Business Objects | BusinessObjects Data Integrator |
| Composite Software | Composite Information Server |
| DataMirror | DataMirror Integration Suite |
| Informatica | PowerCenter 8 |
| Information Builders | iWay Software Product Suite |
| Oracle | Oracle Warehouse Builder |
| QlikTech | QlikView 7.2 |
| Sunopsis | Sunopsis Data Conductor |
| Sybase | Avaki EII |
| Syncsort | DMExpress |
| XLCubed | CubePort (from Exologic, an XLCubed partner) |
DATA QUALITY
| Vendor | Product |
| DataFlux | DF PowerStudio V7 |
| DataMentors | DataFuse |
| Firstlogic | IQ Watch |
| Group 1 Software | DataSight |
| Similarity Systems | AXIO 5.0 |
| Trillium | Trillium Software Discovery, System Series 7 |
MONITORING, MODELING, METADATA MANAGEMENT, ADMINISTRATION
| Vendor | Product |
| ASG Software Solutions | Rochade |
| Sybase | Sybase Power Designer |
| Teleran Technologies | iSight, iGuard Query Manager |
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AND CONSULTING
| Vendor | Service |
| Cognizant Technology Solutions | DW&BI Maturity Assessment Framework |
|
Conversion Services International |
ClarityPath Strategy Framework |
| DecisionPath Consulting | BI Pathway |
| Knightsbridge Solutions |
Pathways Methodology |
| TDWI | DW Education and Research |
| Unisys | 3D Visual Enterprise Methodology |
SHOW FLOOR OBSERVATONS
- When open, the exhibit hall was always active with attendees engaging in serious discussions with exhibitors about their products and services. Attendees were more interested in acquiring
knowledge than they were in acquiring tradeshow toys and giveaways. -
- The somewhat remote location of the hotel kept attendees onsite and at the conference. In general, the exhibiting vendors seemed to appreciate this and were pleased with the venue.
-
- The primary applications emphasized were business performance management, regulatory compliance, and homeland security.
-
- While most of the exhibitors were TDWI Conference veterans, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Corda Technologies, and Theoris exhibited for the first time.
-
- Among the missing vendors who appeared at the previous TDWI Conference but not this one were Embarcadero Technologies and Ambeo. These companies may have had other priorities as in the week
prior to the conference Embarcadero announced that it had acquired Ambeo. -
- BI vendors tended to feature their integrated product suites with Business Objects, Cognos, Hyperion, MicroStrategy, and SAS featuring the latest (and in some cases yet to be released)
announced versions of their BI platforms. -
- Although some vendors, in particular IBM, have previously shared their booths with a few of their partners, only XLCubed, featuring CubePort from Exologic, appeared to do so at this conference.
-
- Vendors displaying recently acquired technology included IBM displaying the technology it acquired with its acquisition of Alphablox, Similarity Systems displaying a new release of the data
profiling technology resulting from its July 2005 acquisition of Evoke, and Sybase displaying the EII technology from its May 2004 acquisition of Avaki. Note: Similarity Systems acquired Evoke from
fellow TDWI exhibitor, Conversion Systems International. -
- Several vendors issued press releases from the conference including DATAllegro (general availability of its P2 and P5 data warehouse appliances), Firstlogic (launch of IQ Watch for interdiction
list compliance; general availability expected by end of 2005), Informatica (launch of data integration platform PowerCenter 8; general availability expected in Q2 2006), and Similarity Systems
(launch of Axio 5.0 data profiling technology with general availability expected by the end of November 2005). -
- Although Microsoft did not have an exhibit hall booth, it (along with Business Objects and MicroStrategy) participated in Cindi Howson’s excellent “BI Tools in Action: Evaluating BI
Toolsets” course on Wednesday afternoon. -
- Along with acquiring Ascential Software, IBM obtained also its exhibit hall slot for the conference and thus had two contiguous booths at the show. Ascential’s data integration software has
now been integrated into IBM’s Information Integration Solutions Group under the WebSphere Information Integration umbrella, and the Ascential brand was not in evidence at the booth. (There was no
mention of Informix either.) -
- SAS and DataFlux, its data quality subsidiary, also had contiguous booths.
-
- Joint hospitality suites make strange bedfellows as IBM and Siebel Business Analytics jointly hosted one on Monday night. This is unlikely to occur again since in September 2005 Oracle
announced its intention to acquire Siebel. The acquisition was endorsed by Tom Siebel and the Siebel board and is expected to close in early 2006. -
- Cognos also hosted a hospitality suite Monday night while Informatica hosted one Sunday night and SAS hosted one Tuesday night.
-
- Speaking of pending acquisitions, Pitney Bowes, which acquired Group 1 Software in July 2004, announced in September 2005 that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Firstlogic, a
Group 1 competitor. As the Federal Trade Commission has recently asked for additional details and the acquisition is not yet a done deal, the two companies maintained their distance at the show
with each having its own booth. -
- Continuing the mystique of its stealth marketing, no literature was on display at the Ab Initio booth.
-
- Making his 20th+ appearance, magician Danny Orleans wins the TDWI perennial presenter award as he continued to draw crowds to the Knightsbridge booth.
