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UDALink for MPE adds capability and speed

CubesMB Foster is rolling out news of a refreshed UDALink for MPE, software that handles data access and delivery, reporting writing, client-server and analytic capabilites for HP 3000 customers. Those capabilities got a lift in the latest release, as well as speed improvements. UDALink is part of what the company calls its Universal Data Access (UDA) Series of products.

HP has been working to upgrade its PC-using customers to Windows 7 this year, using repeated attempts to wrench Windows XP servers out of enterprises. A recent webpage pointed to HP's equanimity about moving to 7 or 8. An article on a ZDNet website said that HP's never stopped selling Windows 7, really, even though the version has become hard to get in the consumer market. HP seems to understand that its customers might not be prepared for the "Tile World" of Windows 8. Windows 8.1 regained the venerable Start button that Microsoft lost in its 8.0 release. But choosing between either of these updates to PCs can lead a customer to upgrade its free, ODBCLink/SE bundle-ware in MPE/iX to UDALink, Foster said in a release.

UDALink is the logical upgrade path if the organization is considering:

• Upgrading desktops to Windows 7/8
• Deploying a DataWarehouse or Operational Data Stores
• Deploying generic or strategic DataMarts as part of your enterprise reporting strategy
• Required to extract, off-load or preserve legacy data on Microsoft SQL Server
• Upload data into a cloud application like Salesforce  

New capabilities of the latest release of connectivty software include a 64-bit driver; QuickConnect and support for JDBC3 and JDBC4; support for the ultimate version of Powerhouse, 8.49F; along with the ability to run in the emulated Stromasys HPA Charon environment -- which expands the potential uses of UDALink.

UDALink started its long lifespan in the late 1980s as DataExpress, then one of the seminal client-server access utilities for putting IMAGE/SQL data onto user desktop applications. It's evolved and grown to embrace the latest in software standards as well as new strategies such as cloud computing. Foster says that the software adheres to both Windows ODBC and Oracle/Sun Java standards. "It uniquely combines middleware technology with Microsoft Windows 7/8 desktop applications, and any Business Intelligence product, to help you get up and running fast."

MB Foster reports that it is offering a 30-day downloadable evaluation version of the software. The company's labs created the bedrock ODBC software that's installed on every HP 3000, ODBCLink/SE. It then took over for HP's ODBC labs in 2007. UDALink extends that rudimentary access capability. Not as many companies aim a new release at MPE/iX customers by now. There are hundreds of sites using UDALink today, according to the vendor.

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