Informix looks for e-commerce help

The database software company will tomorrow announce a deal with Art Technology Group, a Boston-based maker of e-commerce software, to provide custom Java components for Informix's forthcoming e-commerce product.

The product, code-named Bazaar, is a combination of Informix's Dynamic Server database, Java applications from Art Technology, and consulting services targeted at companies selling goods online.

The Java applications, sold by Art Technology as its Dynamo Commerce Applications product line, will be retooled to work with Informix's software, said Marc Itzkowitz, a marketing manager at Informix. No terms of the deal were announced.

Informix, which suffered several rocky financial years after a series of setbacks, has struggled to regain profitability by targeting new areas for its database software, including e-commerce and data warehousing.

Informix will also tomorrow announce that it has shipped i.Reach, a Web-based document management tool. i.Reach functions as a corporate repository for storing and managing data including audio, video, and document file formats such as Microsoft Excel and Word.

Bazaar and i.Reach are the first fruits of a new Informix e-commerce business unit announced last August.

Itzkowitz said Bazaar grew out of the company's consulting experience. "We realized there's a business here and a common thread of what people want," he said.

He added that Informix will develop a module as part of Bazaar to link to its e-commerce and data warehousing products so that online businesses can analyze buying trends and other information.