HiT Adds Traceability to Data Transformation Software

October 20, 2009 Alex Woodie

HiT Software last week launched a new version of its data transformation software, Allora, that should help organizations in highly regulated industries keep better track of their data. Customers also gain new scripting capabilities and more automated management of data transformations with Allora version 6.

HiT Software bills Allora as a data transformation product with a special aptitude for XML. With its capability to generate XML from any database, and, in turn, write XML element and attribute values back into any database, the product eliminates the need to hire or train an XML guru to do hand coding for data integration projects that rely heavily on the “X” language.

In effect, Allora serves as a bridge between DB2/400 and other major relational databases on the one side, and XML and structured text files on the other. The software has pre-defined mappings for many popular XML-based data formats, including ACORD, AgXML, Bioml, CellML, CDISC, CIDX, CXML, FpML, HL7, HR-XML, IFX, JusticeXML, LegalXML, MpXML, MISMO, OFX, PIDX, RosettaNet, UCCnet, VoiceXML, and XBRL, just to name a few.

Now, organizations that regularly handle transactions that use these XML data formats can feel more secure about maintaining (and proving) tight hegemony over the data. This is the result of new traceability features added with Allora version 6, including the capability to easily generate reports that expose data mapping design, and new table diagrams that show data relationships, according to HiT.

Maintaining data traceability and compliance can be a “daunting task,” particularly in healthcare and other industries regulated by the FDA or the European Union, according to Giacomo Lorenzin, HiT’s CEO.

“One of the ways to support compliance is to address traceability at the point of data change, particularly when data is transformed from one file format to another,” he says. “We are pleased to offer new features in Allora that provide improved facilities for managing data design and data mapping. We can assure businesses that, when moving data between XML and any relational database using Allora, they have complete transparency of data change.”

HiT Software also includes new reusable sample scripts in Allora version 6, which should make it easier to incorporate Java-based scripting in complicated data transformations. The setup of transformations should also be easier, thanks to new features that allow users to automatically delete text file headers and footers from XML files. The capability to customize data and date/time formats during the data gathering process will also help to improve the accuracy of data transformations, according to HiT Software.