Viatecture

Viatect - The Product

The Product will provide users the ability to consolidate data from many data sources with a focus on ease of use and setup. Extensive business analysis has been conducted to identify general as well as industry-specific requirements for data consolidation across platforms. The Product will address these requirements in order to provide the most complete set of tools necessary to recreate data queries and reports currently generated by users.

Ease of Use

With a focus on users with little to no computer experience, The Product will provide many mechanisms to assist users with the setup and generation of data queries. Users will require NO knowledge of relational database functionality or SQL, the structured query language used by IT professionals to communicate with databases. No specific knowledge of any MicroSoft© product is required either. The Product will be an "out-of-the-box" program, meaning that once the product is installed on the PC, little to no training is required before the program is fully utilized. A Director is available in each segment of the Product to guide users through the steps necessary to consolidate their data. The Director is customizable in each segment and may be utilized at the user's discretion.

In the event that additional assistance is required, a standard Help system will be available to users within the Product to answer questions and provide more complete descriptions of the processes and tasks necessary to consolidate data, as well as provide suggestions for setting up data sources in a format which can be reused with little modification. In addition, a web site dedicated to the product allows users to communicate with the company, as well as other users of the product, to resolve problems and provide suggestions.

Organization

The Product is currently composed of the following Components:

Passport

This component defines where and how users may travel within the Product. Single-user licenses will not require restrictions within the Passport. Users in a Multi-user licenses environment may be assigned access privileges to various data sources through this component. This allows users of The Product to view only that data necessary to perform their business responsibilities and requires at least one user to be assigned administrator status. The Security Director will be available to guide the administrator through the entire security process.

Map

The Map component identifies each data source so it can be used to create Bridges between sources and must be consistent with the purchased modules of the Product. The location of the data file (or database) is required and additional configuration information (such as connection parameters) may be required for some data source types in order for the Map to be available in a Bridge. Additionally, special data tags may be established to allow data from one source to be associated to another source(s). The Map Director will be available to guide the user through the configuration process.

Bridge

When at least two Maps have been created, a Bridge may be generated to retrieve data from those maps. Defined Maps will be presented to the user with the ability to drill-down to gain access to data at the lowest level. A Bridge may connect two same-type data sources, such as two Excel files (Dia. 1), or it may connect two sources of different types, such as an Excel file and an Access database (Dia. 2), or it may connect multiple sources, such as 5 excel files of the same format, another Excel file in a different format, and two separate but related Access databases (Dia.3). Once all data elements have been requested, parameters to restrict the Bridge, such as timeframe or location, may be added to any query. The addition of dynamic parameters allows a Bridge to be reused at a later date with minimal, if any, modification. Data returned from a query may be saved as a data file for use by other applications, and the bridge query itself may also be saved. A Bridge Director will always be available to guide the user through the query process.