SAN MATEO (03/03/2000) - Sybase Inc. this week unveiled the next version of its mobile database, SQL Anywhere Studio 7.0, which the vendor claims boosts the speed and reliability with which companies can deploy mobile solutions.
The key is the ability to join the worlds of wireless devices and back-end enterprise systems, according to Chris Kleisath, director of product management for Sybase's mobile and embedded computing division.
The juncture of those worlds is most evident in the area of data synchronization. Accordingly, Sybase has added bidirectional synchronization support for a wide variety of devices, from PCs to handhelds, and back-end database and ERP systems with SQL Anywhere Studio 7.0.
The newest version of the mobile database also addresses enterprise-level security concerns by providing 128-bit encryption, allowing for more secure data synchronization over the Internet.
In addition to synchronization issues, Sybase has addressed performance in SQL Anywhere Studio 7.0 from the perspectives of users, administrators, and developers.
Users of the new database, said Kleisath, will receive an out-of-the-box performance boost due to a new dynamic caching feature that automatically assesses the memory capacity of the device on which the database is being run, allowing users to achieve optimal performance without having to specify settings.
That has helped Blackbaud, a software vendor in Charleston, S.C., that embeds Sybase's product in its fund-raising software for nonprofit organizations.
"Configuration has always been an issue with these types of solutions, so the ability for the cache and memory to dynamically grow and shrink really has been a boon for us," said Shaun Sullivan, senior manager of product development at Blackbaud.
Blackbaud also benefited from the upgrade's simplified administration features, Sullivan said, pointing out the importance of providing such capabilities to his end-users who do not typically have large IT staffs.
In fact, Sullivan said, the simplicity of deploying and managing Sybase's solution has driven Blackbaud to use SQL Anywhere over Oracle at a ratio of almost 500-to-1.
In SQL Anywhere Studio 7.0, that simplicity comes from added Java support, scheduling and event handling features, and the database management tool.
Sybase SQL Anywhere Studio 7.0 is expected to ship within the next 30 days, with pricing set at $399 for a one-user license and $999 for a 10-user license.
Sybase Inc., in Emeryville, Calif., is at www.sybase.com.