Contract Award: Boeing to provide Twister Data Framework technology to US Securities and Exchange Commission

References: Boeing (1,2), SMSi (3)

News Report

As announced in a recent press release, Boeing's subsidiary Solutions Made Simple Inc. (SMSi) recently received a data integration contract from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under the terms of the agreement, SMSi will provide software licenses and support for its Twister Data Framework technology to the SEC as part of the agency's effort to better access and manage data stored across its enterprise.

The Technology

SMSi's Twister product is designed to extract, share and query information stored in an unlimited number of data sources and applications.

Twister enables organizations implementing business intelligence and analysis strategies to extract, transform, and load data from across the enterprise to create consistent, accurate information. By linking legacy data and applications, Web-based technologies, and third-party applications into an efficient pipeline that coordinates the data retrieval, enrichment, and delivery processes, Twister allows analytics users to exploit information enterprise-wide. By using Twister, organizations can quickly process digital information and automatically connect an unlimited number of disparate data sources and applications without the need for manual processing or metadata.

Unlike traditional “single threaded” Extract Translate and Load (ETL) tools, Twister operates in a completely parallel environment. The Twister framework can be distributed across hundreds of systems, allowing users to take full advantage of COTS hardware. As data arrives into the Twister environment, it is seamlessly spread across the appropriate data cluster. Once the data has been processed it can be reassembled and delivered to a variety of applications in any format.

The Context

Boeing acquired SMSi in August 2011, which now operates within the Information Solutions division of Boeing's Network & Space Systems business. SMSi employs approximately 65 people and is based in Reston, Va.

Comments

"We are thrilled that the SEC has chosen Twister to enable better management and intelligence of large volumes of data," said John Hinshaw, vice president and general manager of Boeing Information Solutions. "Twister has proven to be a valuable tool for the U.S. Intelligence Community and Department of Defense customers. The SEC contract demonstrates Twister's potential to serve the broader federal market’s data integration needs as well."

"Our customers continuously look for better, more cost-effective ways to manage data across disparate networks, and SMSi has terrific capability to do that," said Hinshaw referring to the SMSi's acquisition, "We've worked with SMSi for a number of years and see their team and products as strong complements to our existing capabilities. SMSi adds important vertical content to Boeing's product portfolio for two high-growth markets that are key priorities for our customers: C4ISR and cybersecurity"

Further Reading:

• Twister Data Integrator (pdf)