Similarity Evoke

Similarity Systems acquires Evoke Software

Dateline: 18 July 2005

Similarity Systems™, a leading supplier of business-focused data quality solutions, has announced the acquisition of Evoke Software Corporation, a leading provider of data discovery and profiling software, from Conversion Services International, Inc. (OTCBB: CSII) ("CSI"). The acquisition extends Similarity Systems’ data quality offering and significantly expands its presence in the North American and European markets.

The purchase builds on an existing partnership between Evoke and Similarity Systems under which the two companies have provided repository-level integration between their respective data profiling and data quality products, AXIO™ and ATHANOR™. The move enables Similarity Systems to further integrate AXIO’s capabilities into its end-to-end data quality solution.

“The combination of ATHANOR and AXIO provides businesses and government organizations with the industry’s most complete platform for successful planning and execution of data quality initiatives,” said Garry Moroney, chief executive officer, Similarity Systems. “This integrated solution includes data profiling, content analysis, matching and enhancement capabilities, spanning data quality projects from start to finish and providing a bridge between the business and IT professionals involved.”

Data quality is an increasingly serious issue for organizations large and small. Before data can be used in a data warehouse or in customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning or business analytics applications, it needs to be analyzed and cleansed. Poor data quality costs businesses vast amounts of money and leads to breakdowns in the supply chain, poor business decisions and inferior customer relationship management. Defective data also hampers efforts to meet regulatory compliance responsibilities in financial services providers and data alignment in the consumer packaged goods sector.

According to Gartner, “Awareness of data quality as an important business issue continues to increase as companies recognize the significant impact of incomplete and inaccurate data. Reduced productivity, failed IT initiatives, inability to comply with government regulations and the desire for successful enterprise information management are forcing organizations to improve their data quality. As a result, the data quality technology market continues to enjoy solid growth because more companies are looking for off-the-shelf tools to analyze and improve the quality of their data.”1

With this acquisition Similarity Systems has the most comprehensive data quality solution available on the market. AXIO and ATHANOR offer all the functionality needed to initiate and manage enterprise-wide data quality programs, from profiling and analysis of multiple data sources through to cleansing, de-duplication and consolidation.

Since its launch in 2002 ATHANOR has become a leader in the data quality market by providing a new class of users with the ability to manage data quality based on easily configured business rules. AXIO is established as the leading data profiling solution with the broadest functionality in its class and a strong record of delivering value for customers. The two products are linked via an open repository offering organizations a single platform for tackling data quality at multiple points across the organization while maintaining centralized control and management of data quality standards.

AXIO and ATHANOR have been used successfully in several hundred data integration, data migration, data warehouse and data quality projects. Customers include Nestle, Kraft, Williams-Sonoma, Gap, Boeing, Agilent, Bank of America, ABN AMRO, VISA, Bank One, Deutsche Bank, Rabobank, AXA Financial, Sprint, Vodafone, AT&T, and Metronet.

1Gartner Research “MarketScope Update: Data Quality Technology, 2005” by T. Friedman, A. Bitterer. June 15, 2005.