== OpenLink Software ==
{{Infobox_Company |
company_name = OpenLink Software Inc |
company_type = Private |
company_logo = [[Image:openlink150.gif|150px|OpenLink logo]] |
company_slogan = Universal Data Access Without Boundaries |
foundation = [[1992]] |
location = [[Burlington]], [[Massachusetts]], [[USA]] |
key_people = [[Kingsley Idehen]], CEO & Founder<br />
[[Hugh Williams]], VP Professional Services<br />
[[Orri Erling]], Program Manager and Lead Developer, Virtuoso product family<br />
[[Patrick Van Kleef]], Program Manager, Universal Data Access Middleware product family<br />
[[Paul Nieuwdorp]], VP R&D|
num_employees = ~50 world-wide ([[Sep 2007]]) |
industry = [[Computer software]], [[IT Services]]|
products = [[Virtuoso Universal Server]],<br />
[http://uda.openlinksw.com/ Universal Data Access] drivers,<br />
[[IODBC|iODBC]] driver manager,<br />
[[OpenLink AJAX Toolkit]],<br />
[[MySQL-2-ODBC]] database decoupler,<br />
[[OpenLink ODBC Adapter]] (for [[Ruby on Rails]] / [[Active Record]]),<br />
[[OpenLink Data Spaces]]|
homepage = [http://www.openlinksw.com/ www.openlinksw.com]|
revenue = private company ( [http://hot.techcn.com.cn/1109soft500/10.html Software Maagzine's Software 500], 2006 )
}}
'''OpenLink Software Inc''' (founded 1992) is a software company headquartered in [[Burlington]], [[Massachusetts]], [[USA]].
The company develops and deploys standards-compliant middleware products that cover:
* Transparent access to [[SQL]] data sources via [[ODBC]], [[JDBC]], [[ADO.NET]], and [[OLE DB]] drivers;
* [[EII|Enterprise Data Integration]] of heterogeneous [[SQL]] and [[XML]] and [[RDF]] data sources;
* [[Web Services]] Composition and Deployment;
* [[Business Process Management]] and Integration.
OpenLink Software is creator and owner of the [http://uda.openlinksw.com/ Universal Data Access] drivers suite
(covering [[ODBC]], [[JDBC]], [[OLE DB]], [[ADO.NET]], and [[XMLA]]); the [[Virtuoso Universal Server]];
the [[IODBC|iODBC]] driver manager; the [[OpenLink AJAX Toolkit]] for [[RIA]] development; the [[OpenLink Data Spaces]]
database application framework; and other leading-edge middleware products.
With approximately 50 employees spread over 7 countries and 4 continents (figures from September 2007), OpenLink Software
products are used by enterprises of all sizes from sole proprietorships to Fortune 100 companies. The company's products are in use in
over 10,000 production deployments worldwide.
OpenLink Software revenues derive from selling support, consulting services, and training for their open-source products,
as well as licensing fees for their closed-source and [[Dual License|dual licensed]] products.
As an example: OpenLink Software makes the Virtuoso Universal Server (Open Source Edition) available under
the [[GNU General Public License|GPL]] at no charge and also sells it under other 'more traditional' licenses to
clients who do not find the GPL suitable for their purposes (such as inclusion of OpenLink Software technology
in a closed source product).
Other sources of revenue for OpenLink Software include providing support and consulting as well as training and
certification for the Virtuoso Universal Server and their Universal Data Access drivers. OpenLink Software products
are also embedded in products by other companies including: [[Apple Computers|Apple]], [[Avaya]], [[Lucent]], [[Sungard Bi-Tech]], [[North Plains]], [[Open Text]], and others.
===History===
<ul><li> [[1992]] Company founded (as PAL Consulting) by [[Kingsley Idehen]]</li>
<li> [[1993]] Shipped first [[ODBC]] functionality on non-Windows platforms,
[[Open Database Connectivity#UDBC|Universal DataBase Connectivity]] ([[UDBC]]);
name changed to OpenLink Software</li>
<li> [[1995]] Shipped [[IODBC|iODBC]], the first ODBC Driver Manager
for non-Windows platforms</li>
<li> [[1998]] Acquired full rights to [[Kubl]], which evolved into the
[[Virtuoso Universal Server]]; [[Orri Erling]] joined staff</li>
<li> [[1998]] Shipped Virtuoso 1.0, including [[Virtual Database]] / [[Federated Database]] / [[Hybrid Data Sever]] Functionality</li>
<li> [[2000]] Shipped Virtuoso 1.5, adding a Validating XML Parser (supporting XML Schema),
XSLT processor, SQL-XML transformation, XQuery, XPath, WebDAV support, and a native XML datatype</li>
<li> [[2001]] Shipped Virtuoso 2.0, adding
<ul><li> Execution of native or third party [[SQL]] Stored Procedures over [[HTTP]]</li>
<li> Execution of native or third party SQL [[Stored Procedures]] via SOAP (by publishing
SQL Stored Procedures as WSDL and SOAP compliant Web Services)</li>
<li> Proxy Generation for third party Web Services</li>
<li> Exposure of saved SQL, SQL-XML, XQuery, and XPath queries as Web Services</li></ul></li>
<li> [[2001]] Shipped Virtuoso 3.0, adding
<ul><li> DBMS hosting of the Java, Microsoft .Net CLR, and Mono runtime environments</li>
<li> [[User Defined Types]] (UDT) support with implementation in SQL, Java or .net</li>
<li> Use of UDTs for abstracting web services, generating a UDT from a WSDL.</li>
<li> SQL Stored Procedures extensibility via code associated with hosted runtimes</li>
<li> Dynamic Language & Web page hosting for [[PHP]], [[ASP.NET]], JSP, Python, [[Perl]], and Ruby (a recent addition)</li>
<li> Procedure Views (Table Valued Functions in SQL Server and Table Functions in Oracle)</li>
<li> Improved Cost based Distributed Query Optimizer for handling heterogeneous SQL joins</li>
<li> Bi-Directional Transaction Replication</li>
<li> [[XA]]-based 2-Phase Commit for Distributed Transactions</li></ul></li>
<li> [[2006]] Shipped [[OpenLink Data Space]] 1.0, incorporating
<ul><li> Web Application Framework</li>
<li> Weblog Publishing Platform</li>
<li> [[RSS]]/[[Atom]]/[[RDF]] Feed Aggregator</li>
<li> Photo Sharing system</li>
<li> Discussion Server</li>
<li> [[Wiki]] Engine</li>
<li> [[BPEL]] Process Manager (application layer above the in-built BPEL core)</li>
<li> [[Unified Storage]] (that includes automatic metadata extraction and resource classification using RDFS and OWL)</li>
<li> [[Social Networking]] Framework</li></ul></li>
<li> [[2006]] Shipped Virtuoso 4.0, forking [[Open Source]] (no Virtual DBMS
features) and Closed Source (including VDBMS features) editions</li>
<li> [[2006]] Shipped [[OpenLink ODBC Adapter for Ruby on Rails / Active Record]]</li>
<li> [[2006]] Shipped OpenLink AJAX Toolkit 1.0</li>
<li> [[2007]] Shipped Virtuoso 4.5, adding --
<ul><li> RDF Mapping of relational data.</li>
<li> Bitmap index support</li>
<li> Engine enhancements including automatic background compaction, better SMP behavior with shorter
critical sections, fixes in transaction logic and more.</li></ul></li>
<li> [[2007]] Shipped Virtuoso 5.0, adding --
<ul><li> Full Text Indexing of Literal Objects in SPARQL Queries (this includes the magic predicate "bif:contains")</li>
<li> Subclass and Subproperty Support (Inferencing)</li>
<li> [[SPARQL]] Aggregate Functions</li>
<li> SPARUL support (SPARQL Inserts, Updates, and Deletions)</li>
<li> SPARQL Endpoint ("/sparql") is equipped with in-built RDF Middleware that enables non-RDF Data Sources
(e.g., (X)HTML Pages, Microformats embedded in (X)HTML, and Web Services [e.g., Googlebase, Flickr,
Del.icio.us and others]) to be treated as bona fide SPARQL Graph URIs</li>
<li> Improved Support of [[XML Schema]] Type System</li>
<li> Enhanced SPARQL to Relational Mapping (RDF VIEWs of SQL Data)</li></ul></li></ul>
===External links===
{{portalpar|free software}}
*[http://www.openlinksw.com Company home page]
*[http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/ Virtuoso Universal Server home page]
*[http://uda.openlinksw.com/ Universal Data Access home page]
*[http://www.iodbc.org/ iODBC Project home page]
*[http://virtuoso.openlinksw.com/wiki/main/Main/Ods OpenLink Data Spaces home page]
*[http://oat.openlinksw.com/ OpenLink AJAX Toolkit home page]
*[http://odbc-rails.rubyforge.org/ OpenLink ODBC Adapter for Ruby on Rails / Active Record home page]
[[Category:Companies of USA]]
[[Category:Free software companies]]
{{ict-company-stub}}
Overview
OpenLink Software is a privately held company founded in 1992 by its President & CEO, Kingsley Idehen. The company is an industry-acclaimed leader and innovator in the eBusiness Infrastructure Technology and Universal Data Access Middleware market segments including the following areas:
- ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, and OLE-DB compliant Data Access Drivers for Oracle, SQL Server, Informix, Ingres, Sybase, Progress, MySQL, and PostgreSQL
- Object-Relational Database Technology
- Data Integration Middleware (Virtual Database Engine Technology)
- XML Database Technology
- Web Application Server Technology
- Application Integration Middleware (Web Services Platforms and Service Oriented Architecture)
- Business Process Management & Integration
- Internet, Intranet, and Extranet Collaboration Technology (Weblog, Wiki, Feed Aggregation and Syndication, Web File Systems etc.)
- Cross Platform Data Space Technology
Products
- Universal Data Access Drivers (UDA)- High-performance data access drivers for ODBC, JDBC, ADO.NET, and OLE DB that provide transparent access to enterprise databases.
- OpenLink Virtuoso - a Cross Platform Universal Server for Enterprise Data Integration, Web Services Composition & Deployment, Business Process Management and platform for the Semantic Web.
- OpenLink Data Space Platform and Applications
- Open Ajax Toolkit
- Benchmarking and Diagnostic Utilities
- An Open Source Data Access SDK for ODBC.
Competition
- UDA - OpenLinks main competitor in the Universal Data Access Driver arena is Data Direct.
History
Headquarters
Notes
- Company Motto - "Universal Data Access Without Boundaries"
- Mission Statement - "To develop and deploy leading edge, standards-based eBusiness infrastructure technology that is database-, operating system-, and development environment- independent.
- Company Vision - "XML-based e-business solutions are the foundation of the Information Age and New E-economy "
- Our Value Proposition - "Standards-Compliance and Technology Innovation without compromise".
- OpenLink is a Software 500 company.
External links
