SAS launches model manager product
Finding itself playing catch-up, SAS announced SAS Model Manager recently. Rival analytic firms SPSS and Teradata had announced similar lifecycle management for analytic models products earlier last year. All the products provide governance for the modeling lifecycle from creation to optimization to tweaking the model through production deployment. One of the major headaches SAS Model Manager will resolve, said SAS, is version control. Other features include audit logs to track when a model was deployed and used or upgraded by whom and the ability to take live feeds for “scoring.” The SAS tool is at this point proprietary and works only with a SAS modeling environment while both SPSS and Teradata can import and manage models created by other vendor tools using using PMML (Predictive Model Markup Language). SAS is working on a PMML feature that will be available in the next version of SAS expected this summer.
Availability: Available now
URL: tinyurl.com/ya9rky
Mining warehouses for data
Teradata has launched Teradata Warehouse Miner 5.0, a suite of data-mining software that automates data preparation with an eye to accelerating the performance of data mining tools from partners like SAS, SPSS, Fair Isaac Model Builder and KXEN. data-mining tools. The company boasts the combination of the Teradata in-database performance with other vendors’ data-mining tools can speed model development as much as two to three times faster and runtime of data-mining models up to 25 times faster. New capabilities have been added to version 5.0 focusing on data profiling, ADS generation, Predictable Model Markup language (PMML) and model management.
Availability: Available now
URL: tinyurl.com/yhfevm
Easing succession planning
Halogen Software Inc., an Ottawa-based developer of Web-based employee performance management software, has released of Halogen Employee Performance Management Suite 8.0. The offering includes a host of upgrades focused on improving ease of use and increasing functionality. A succession planning tool, eSuccession, has been added to help managers better understand their workforce’s potential and areas of retention risk, proactively develop employee performance and fulfill succession requirements with the right candidates. Suites focusing on health care providers and compensation modeling have also been improved.
Availability: Available now
URL: tinyurl.com/ww8ws
Novell Ships openSUSE 10.2
Novell has announced the availability of openSUSE 10.2, the newest version of the company’s Linux distribution.
The offering features more than 1,500 software packages containing the latest open source innovations, including redesigned KDE and GNOME interfaces and Wink tutorial creation software. It also aims to provide a complete desktop experience for new Linux users, with the OpenOffice.org office productivity suite, the latest Firefox 2.0 Web browser, BeagleAE desktop search, GAIM instant messaging client, multimedia tools and graphical software through a GUI-experience with familiar cascading menus, icons and dialogue boxes. To ease interoperability, applications like OpenOffice.org allow for easy file sharing with Microsoft Windows and Office users. Users can also use PDF, RealMedia and Flash files in openSUSE and employ the automatic Linux-Windows dual-boot configuration for flexibility.
Availability: Available now
Pricing: Free download
URL:www.opensuse.org
Enabling mobile BI
BI vendor Information Builders has released WebFOCUS Active Reports, a portable BI tool for mobile users designed to give people access to their BI information on devices like Treos, Dell PDAs, HP PDAs, Samsung devices and others. The company said any device running the Opera Mobile browser can access and interact with Active Reports. The tool is architected to be cross-browser compatible and operate in connected or disconnected mod and doesn’t require custom software installed on the mobile device. It also do not require special servers or Web services to generate and deliver the report, alternative “mobile” formats, or custom specifications or how to write or format the report to make it viewable on mobile devices.
Availability: Available now
Protecting SMEs
Webroot Software, a developer of anti-spyware software, has released an Internet threat tool designed to protect SMEs from spyware and viruses. Dubbed Webroot SME Security, the tool combines anti-virus technology from Sophos with the anti-spyware protection of Webroot Spy Sweeper in a single desktop agent. Webroot provides frequent dentition updates multiple times per day and the application has been tested for compatability with other desktop applications to ensure there are no conflicts or performance degradation.
Availability: Available now
McAfee to provide total protection
McAfee has announced the second version of its corporate client security software, Total Protection 2.0, a combination of antivirus, antispyware, host-based intrusion-prevention and network access-control policy-enforcement agent. New is a feature called SiteAdvisor designed to warn Web users that certain Web sites present dangers by forcing unwanted applications onto the desktop or other perceived risks. Support for Cisco’s Network Admission Control technology for restricting network access if virus or software patches aren’t up to date has also been added. The McAfee Total Protection agent can carry out remediation for NAC based on policies controlled via McAfee’s ePolicy Orchestrator management console.
Availability: Available now
Pricing: Starts at US$93 per seat based on 100 users
URL: tinyurl.com/ygeafc
SAP delivers first mySAP 2005 enhancements
SAP AG has delivered the first in a planned series of regular enhancements to the current version of its ERP software as the vendor embarks on a new way to deliver ERP applications. MySAP ERP 2005, which debuted in May, will remain in place through 2010 and act as a backbone on top of which users can choose to run any or all of a stream of optional enhancement packages issued by SAP and its partners. The first SAP enhancement package is centered around delivering new general-purpose human capital management and financials features and specific functionality for the retail and manufacturing industries, and is available to SAP customers already running mySAP ERP 2005 as part of their license and maintenance agreement. SAP plans to debut two to three enhancement packages per year, each with its own primary focus.
Availability: Available now
CA enhances identity federation
CA has announced enhanced identity federation capabilities as part of its eTrust Site
