ISV, SI, ASP, BSP Executive Summit – Record-breaking attendance reflects interest in future-proofing applications through embedded integration

A total of 105 executives and senior technical personnel engaged with their peers, deepened their understanding of how to leverage integration, and learned how to future-proof their applications through embedded integration at this season’s Metamorphosis, May 8-9 in Boston.

Standing-room-only attendance in some sessions mirrored the intensity of interest in topics ranging from high-volume/large-scale data integration, SOA “last mile” challenges, event-based integration and on-demand software, data profiling, embeddable integration, and more.

Attendees and speakers to this invitation-only summit felt it was well worth their time. “The event was truly top-notch; from the logistical preparation, to the venue, and extending to the execution of the sessions,” said Tom Bertrand, Data Conversion Manager at ACS and one of the event presenters. Tom Williams, Director of Strategic Alliances at Pivotal, reported, “…It was an excellent conference and one I found very valuable.”

Customers presenting their experience and solutions at Metamorphosis 5.0 included:

Tom Bertrand, Data Conversion Manager, ACS
Swamy Narayana, Director, CGI-AMS
Jack Hakim, CEO, ECWise
Steven Woods, CTO, Eloqua
Anne Marie Berger, Managing Partner, Forefront
Frank Jackson, CIO, PHCS
Javier Betancourt, Senior Project Manager, Progress Software
Ted Bardasz, VP of R&D, Softrax

For more information about Metamorphosis 5.0 presentations and our next Metamorphosis in Austin Texas November 6-8, please contact your Account Executive or email info@pervasive.com.

For more information about how to future-proof your applications through embedded integration and Pervasive Partner Programs, please contact Doug McLean.

Call for presentations: November User Conference!

Integration users are showing early interest in response to Account Executives’ call for presentations. There is still time to let us know you’re interested, but presentation slots are filling quickly.

If you have an interesting approach to the topics below, and would like to share your insights with others, email your Account Executive or info@pervasive.com today.

• Embedding Integration within Workflows and/or Software Applications
• Leveraging Integration to Extend ASP-Style Services
• Data Integration as a Service within SOA
• Bringing Data Conversion under Control
• Leveraging Integration to Reduce Costs
• Extending the Functionality or Value of Legacy Systems
• Implementing High Performance, High-Volume Data Flows
• Industry-Specific Integration Scenarios from Healthcare, Financial Services, Insurance, etc.
• Data Profiling for Reliability and Faster Data Turnaround

Radio Integration: Enhance the value of your CRM systems

Dennis Hall, corporate account manager for Pervasive, draws on his customers’ experiences to discuss how leveraging integration can enhance the value of your CRM systems.

Click on the player button below to listen to Integration Radio. This audio requires the Flash plug-in, which you can download for free here.

You can also download the audio in MP3 format here. An archive of all of our audios can be found here.

New integration-only DevTalk part of prep for 8.12 release

Integration users will get their own development/community forum starting June 5, 2006. You’re invited to visit after June 5th at www.pervasive.com/devtalk/integration/.

Why are we creating a separate forum expressly for integration users?

Customers have told us they want a clear and differentiated forum to exchange ideas and knowledge. With the upcoming release of 8.12, we want to ensure you have easy access to share ideas and approaches with your peers.

As part of the preparation for our 8.12 release, the Knowledge Base search functionality is being enhanced. Stay tuned for breaking news about 8.12...

Automate processes integrating email messages/attachments

Email can be a low-cost alternative for transporting data alongside regular message text. As an alternative to FTP and queuing applications, many companies use email as a way to transport data. This functionality provides a relatively easy way for you to use email in a larger workflow process for your integration project and reduce, or eliminate, human intervention.

The RiFL code below strips attachments from an email message and writes them to the temp folder. This code takes these attachments from a message object that has been populated by Pervasive’s new Email SMTP Invoker step within a Process Design, allowing a user to automate a process that begins with an emailed file.

For example, a trading partner could email a document, then the process could pull off the attachment, validate it, process it, and email back a confirmation.

The following code requires two Message Object variables to be declared, one as “sendEmail” and the other as "receivedEmail"

On Error GoTo ErrSection
 
dim varFrom   ' Contains the email address the message came from
dim attachment as DJMessage   ' Attachment DJMessage
dim CRLF
dim status   ' Status report text that will be emailed 
 
CRLF = chr(13) & chr(10)
status = String(60, "-") & CRLF
 
varFrom = receivedEmail.Properties("From")
status = "Current Sender Email: " & varFrom & CRLF & CRLF
 
if receivedEmail.AttachmentCount() > 0 then

  ' User AttachmentCount() to get the number of
  attachments and loop through them all
  For i = 0 to (receivedEmail.AttachmentCount() - 1)
     ' We get the first attachment in the queue
	 using the zero element.
     set attachment = receivedEmail.getAttachment(0)
		
     ' The FileName property contains the original
	 file name of the attachment
     fileName = attachment.Properties("FileName")
		
     ' Binary attachments are base64 encoded. Basically,
     ' anything other than text because email is sent in 7 bit
     If StrComp(attachment.properties("Content-Transfer-Encoding"),
	    "base64", 1) == 0 then
        attachment.body = b64decode(attachment.body, ENC_ISO8859_1)
     End if
    
     FileWrite("c:\temp\" & fileName, attachment.body, ENC_ISO8859_1)
     status = status & "Attachment Saved: " & fileName & CRLF
        
     ' Remove the attachment to make space for 
     ' the next one and clean up memory.
     receivedEmail.RemoveAttachment(attachment.Name)
		
     Next i
Else

   status = status & "No attachment found"

end if

sendEmail.body = sendEmail.body & status
return
 
ErrSection:
 
logmessage ("ERROR", "LOOKHERE: " & err.Number & " : " &
err.description & " at line: " & err.line)
abort()

Next month, looks for more useful Tech Tips on how to maximize the value of your Pervasive Integration products.

Pervasive Integration reduces costs by $250K per year, wins Aberdeen award; Pervasive customer Sage SalesLogix wins as well

Pervasive’s Integration Group was key to helping a major financial services provider reduce costs by $250K per year by improving its data management with B2B insurance agency partners. As a result, the financial services company was named as one of 10 "International Success Strategy Winners" by Aberdeen Group.

Pervasive customer Sage SalesLogix won as well for a solution that provided a 53% improvement in customer acquisition rates.

Aberdeen research confirmed that the companies’ selective investment in high-value customers delivers triple value by empowering organizations to boost revenues, reduce operational costs, and increase customer retention and acquisition rates.

Companies named as winners with detailed success strategy studies are available in Aberdeen's report, "Success Strategies for Leveraging Customer Intelligence". Contact Aberdeen to learn more about the report.

Experience counts – Pervasive Services Group is your integration success factor

Pervasive’s Professional Services Group brings years of valuable experience to your integration project, including planning, implementing and optimizing your integration software projects. When you work with us, you’re leveraging the combined expertise of hundreds of developers and tens of thousands of hours building and implementing integration solutions.

As a part of Pervasive’s Professional Services Group, our Training Services team will share their rich integration skill sets and experiences to empower your staff to better develop and manage their own integration projects. Together, we will ensure you optimize your efforts, while helping you sidestep potential pitfalls. Pervasive has all the resources to train your staff to better create and manage their own integration projects.

Challenges: Product knowledge, turnover and adaptability
Success factor: Training services
Our Training Services team has extensive experience working with new and existing users to deliver the maximum amount of product knowledge in a short amount of time. We invite you to visit our Web site to learn more about our Training Services.

Challenges: Available resources and deadlines
Success factor: Implementation services
Our Implementation Services team has a history of success filling resource gaps to meet tight deadlines and implement solutions rapidly and successfully. Please visit our Web site to learn more about our Implementation Services.

Challenges: All of the above
Success factor: Fast-track training and implementation packages
Our Professional Services Group will allocate the best resource for your needs and deliver knowledge transfer in a classroom environment, followed by actual product implementation and consulting. Stop by our Web site to see the list of our Packaged Offerings.

Training class reconfigured to meet clients’ busy schedules and tight budgets

Pervasive has reconfigured training classes to reduce course time while ensuring you learn what you need. This reconfiguration also allows us to offer more advanced instructional material for Pervasive Data Integrator™ and Pervasive Business Integrator™ customers alike.

The new configuration is four days total – three days of hands-on, workshop-style coursework covering each of the design interfaces and the command line interface to the Integration Engine, plus a fourth day covering advanced topics in Map and Process Designers and an introduction to Repository Manager. See the detailed course descriptions here.

If you would like instructions in EDI / HIPAA maps using Document Schema Designer and Validator technology, please contact your Account Executive to arrange a fifth day of class that covers those concepts exclusively. An additional charge will be applicable.

The new class structure reduces the overall price to $3,200 per person for the combined 4-day course. See all pricing and class schedules on the registration page.

Dates for the June class:

June 12-14 Fundamentals
June 15 Advanced
June 12-15 Boot Camp (combined Fundamentals and Advanced)
July 10 Integration Bootcamp

Move fast to secure your place:
For those who register by June 26 we will offer a $200 per seat discount.

Survey drills down into your peers’ thoughts on Data Warehousing and Reporting

The survey results offer a snapshot of the Reporting and Data Warehousing/Data Mart tools being used by readers. When asked what Reporting Tools were being used, upwards of 40% of respondents said Business Objects Enterprise, with 17% indicating Crystal Enterprise and 16% confirming Excel. Reporting tools being used on a lesser scale are Informatica Power Analyzer, Hyperion Essbase and Microstrategy, among others.

Survey respondents also helped Insights get a better picture of the functional areas that drive the use of Data Warehousing and Data Marts. Upwards of 25% of respondents said product development drove requirements, followed by marketing and executive management, each receiving an 18% response. Another 17% named Finance as an area driving the need for data warehousing or data marts.

Thanks for participating in the survey, and stay tuned for others in future newsletters. And remember, three respondents will be receiving a Pervasive shirt very soon.

To Add Pervasive Software to Your Safe Senders List

Due to spam filters differing, and that at times they filter legitimate email, it is highly recommended that you add Pervasive Software domain to your Safe Senders list in your email client. This will ensure that our email correspondence will get to you successfully.

For Outlook 2000 and higher

In your email from Pervasive Software:

1. Open the email from Pervasive Software



2. Click on the Actions menu on the top of your email window.
3. Choose Junk Email.
4. Select Add Senders Domain .... to Safe Senders List to add Pervasive Software to your safe sender list.