DM: ISL Unveils Clementine Data Mining Solutions Vision

[Joe Evans]

http://www.isl.co.uk/

Contact: Joe Evans              FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
+44 (0)1256 355899      
joee@isl.co.uk                  20th October 1998

ISL Unveils Clementine Data Mining Solutions Vision

* Clementine Version 5.0 Delivers "Open Data Mining"
* Roadmap Stresses Integration with Business Infrastructure

Data mining specialist ISL launches a comprehensive new range of
solutions for business, addressing openness, scalability, ease of use
and deployment.

The Clementine Data Mining Solutions program begins today with the
release of Clementine Version 5.0, ISL's open, best-of-breed data 
mining
tool. New additions to the Clementine range will build on an
organisation's existing IT investment, and allow quick deployment of
solutions throughout the enterprise.

"Data mining is a business tool, and its development will be driven by
business needs," said Alan Montgomery, ISL CEO. "The new range is 
about
empowering business to make the most of its data, quickly and
cost-effectively.

"Clementine succeeds by empowering business professionals to mine
business data, which means they save time and produce superior 
results.
The new products extend this quality into ever more complex projects, 
at
ever greater speed."

"Our experience from 250 plus user organisations tells us there's an
enormous and growing appetite for data mining in today's enterprises -
our data mining revenues have doubled annually for the last 4 years,"
said ISL CEO Alan Montgomery, presenting ISL's roadmap for the new
product range. "But very few vendors have been able to deliver a true,
business-oriented data mining capability to these organisations. This 
is
where ISL excels."

The first element of ISL's new program is Clementine Version 5. As 
well
as adding powerful new algorithms, V5 emphasises openness and
interoperability. Key features include:

* The Clementine External Module Interface - allowing users' favourite
algorithms and utilities to be added to Clementine's visual 
programming
environment.
* Automation of data mining tasks, and embedding data mining 
components
in broader solutions, through Batch Execution Mode.
* Tools for managing data mining projects
* Presentation of data mining results as web-enabled HTML reports.
* A link to Microsoft Excel.

The first release of the Clementine-SPSS interface, giving access to 
all
SPSS statistical facilities, and to complementary data mining tools 
such
as AnswerTree. 

Other new components address issues such as warehouse integration and
scalability, process support, component re-use and enterprise 
delivery.
They include:

CHESS, the Clementine High-Efficiency Scalable Server. A middleware
component which translates and optimises Clementine visual programs 
for
direct execution within a DBMS, CHESS will give potentially enormous
gains in speed and scale, and leverages an organisation's data
warehousing investment. CHESS is unique in scaling the complete data
mining process, and is the basis of joint development collaboration 
with
Compaq-Tandem announced in June of this year.

CRISP-DM: CRoss-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining. The 
CRISP-DM
initiative created by ISL, NCR, Daimler-Benz and OHRA aims to
standardise and publish the data mining process model. Over 100 data
mining suppliers, complementary product/service vendors, consultancies
and large-scale users have signed up to the CRISP Special Interest
Group. Although CRISP-DM is tool-neutral, ISL will provide a process
tool in Clementine.

The Clementine Solutions Exporter. A module which exports complete
Clementine visual programs as stand-alone or embeddable applications 
for
enterprise deployment and distribution. Front-end components for
exported applications will include application shells and a model
evaluation harness.

The Clementine Solutions Workbench. A set of packaged Clementine
templates for specific application types. This will include a core set
of general purpose utilities and "starter packs" for areas such as
customer retention, cross-selling, fraud detection and time series. 

"Our message to the market is clear," says Colin Shearer, ISL's VP
Business Development. "Clementine Data Mining Solutions support all
levels of data mining from desktop analyses to enterprise-wide 
adoption
as part of the business infrastructure. Users who select Clementine 
gain
access to the most comprehensive coverage available for successful 
data
mining."


#ENDS#