IBM shipped the latest version of its Alphablox analytics software last week, adding deeper integration support for linking the software with its Rational Application Developer and WebSphere Portal Server products.
IBM bought Alphablox in mid-2004, adding the "business intelligence" (BI) software maker's technology to its information management software group. Alphablox is a Java-based platform for embedding analytics within applications. Developers can use Alphablox to add dashboards and other visual analytics features to applications, such as financial planning tools.
IBM's goal after purchasing Alphablox was to fill in and broaden the startup's promising technology, said Richard Wozniak, IBM's director of BI marketing. Connecting Alphablox with IBM's WebSphere Portal and application development tools will expand customers' deployment options, he said. In addition, increasing the number of languages in which Alphablox is customized extends the software's reach, he said. With this release, Alphablox is available in 11 languages, including Czech, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, French, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
The new Alphablox version 8.3 extends the software's integration with other products in IBM's portfolio and includes enhancements in its database access features and cross-browser support. IBM has also added support for Cloudscape 10, a lightweight Java database designed to be embedded within applications. IBM's last major update of the software, version 8.2, came out a year ago.
IBM's Alphablox 8.3 is available for Linux, Unix and Windows. Pricing starts at US$45,000 per CPU.
IBM's developers will soon begin work on Alphablox 8.4, intended for release next year. In that version, IBM is likely to add support for third-party portal servers such as BEA Systems's WebLogic. It may also introduce further language translations.
"Our goal is to continue to broaden the reach of the product," Wozniak said.