DataDirect Helps Metavante Deliver the Security and Performance its Customers Expect

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Goal:

Bring product to market quickly without compromising security and reliability. Trustworthy access to financial data stored in Oracle and Sybase databases was a focus.

Why they chose DataDirect:

DataDirect ADO.NET data providers offer access to both Oracle and Sybase, and are implemented in fully managed code for secure access to their customers' data.

Business benefits:

On-schedule deployment and customers who can depend on accurate data access from Metavante CSF Designer.

Technical benefits:

Met reliability, performance and scalability requirements. In addition, does not require database vendor client software.

Metavante Corporation, the technology subsidiary of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE:MI) is one of the top three bank technology processors in the United States. They processed the first Internet-based banking transaction in 1995, developed the first integrated deposit system, and the first remote bank processing operation.

The Metavante CSF Designer is a high-end system for creation and management of printed and electronic materials, generating millions of "branded pieces" per day around the world. A typical customer deployment of CSF Designer includes dozens or more desktops and a series of large servers - with a variety of databases and big backend materials production equipment.

More than two years ago, Metavante, in tandem with customers, began designing an application suite that could offer simpler, cost effective, and more seamless content personalization. Essential to this project was a flexible architecture that would enable rapid development and be easily integrated with existing products, platforms, and data.

The Challenge

The development platform of choice for this project was Microsoft .NET. Metavante created the .NET applications and components for the new suite in less than a year, offering rich client capabilities that could be flexibly adjusted and even retargeted to different servers in the future. Designed from the ground up and implemented completely in C# with Visual Studio .NET, the overall application is designed as fully managed code for reliability and ease of deployment.

But the solution was not complete without reliable and secure access to their customers' data stored in Oracle and Sybase databases. As innovators and early adopters of the .NET technology, Metavante quickly learned that not all ADO.NET providers delivered the same quality of code management and data access performance. "We had been using the OLE DB [bridges] but found they had lots of problems, especially with CLOBs and Cursor Types that we needed. We found DataDirect, did the 15-day trial, and immediately got past these problems," said Neal Gottsacker, Vice President of CSF Development, from Metavante.

Solution

After exploring their options, Metavante resolved their data access issues by choosing to embed DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET - the only ADO.NET providers built with 100% managed code. Because DataDirect ADO.NET providers are built to access data over the wire protocol, communications between the client and the data never leaves the secured .NET environment. And because Connect for ADO.NET does not require the installation or use of client database software, performance isn't impeded by an additional communications layer. Metavante offers customers premium, portable connections to on-site customer data in Sybase and Oracle.

Results

Metavante realized substantial benefits by completing their vision using DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET. With their new applications driving literally millions of pieces of personalized branded content on a daily basis, reliability was paramount, and Metavante found that Microsoft and DataDirect Technologies could deliver any reliability, performance and scalability parameters their testing environments demanded.

"DataDirect Technologies met our functional requirements and gave us much faster time to market," said Gottsacker. "...the Help files made it much easier for the new developer. Support was great, answering questions quickly and in detail."

Footnote: This project was Metavante's first experience using Microsoft .NET and DataDirect Connect for ADO.NET. With a productive and positive first experience, this division of Metavante is now considering this .NET technology duo for other future applications.