Help/Systems Buys Database Monitoring Tool from Innovatum

Published: June 13, 2011

by Alex Woodie

Help/Systems has acquired the DataThread database monitoring tool from Innovatum, the companies announced last week. The deal puts Help/Systems and its security subsidiary, PowerTech, firmly in control of a product they have been reselling since last year.

DataThread is a powerful database monitoring tool that automatically detects and records IBM i user and application activity, down to the field level. The software complements native IBM i capabilities and third-party security tools by providing filtering and workflow mechanisms to sift through millions of journal and database entries, and alert administrators of signs of potential security breaches, such as changes to sensitive objects, use of powerful commands, and access to restricted files. DataThread also has value as an after-the-fact compliance tool, as its reports help companies comply with industry regulations, including PCI, Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, and the FDA's 21 CFR part 11.

PowerTech has been reselling DataThread since late 2010, when it entered into a deal with Innovatum. Apparently, the folks in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, were sufficiently impressed with the product out of Sugar Hill, Georgia, that they decided to buy it outright.

PowerTech director of security technologies Robin Tatam called DataThread "a perfect fit," and said it's complementary to PowerTech's existing security lineup. Jim Cassens, the director of business development for Help/Systems, said DataThread is a "world-class" solution that's in high demand and will "super charge" product sales among customers needing compliance solutions.

The deal adds another security tool to the arsenal shared by Help/Systems and its two security-focused subsidiaries, PowerTech and Bytware. PowerTech has the biggest collection, with tools dedicated to managing network exit points, regulatory compliance, brokering authority credentials, and event monitoring, as well as the annual IBM i security report and user conference. Bytware's tools offer exit point monitoring and anti-virus control. Help/Systems initially planned to create its own exit point suite before beginning its string of acquisitions several years ago.

Help/Systems acquired all intellectual property related to DataThread, as well as the customer support agreements. Specific terms of the deal were not revealed.

The OEM and reseller deals that Innovatum had put in place with some of PowerTech's competitors, including Carol Woodbury's SkyView Partners, have yet to be worked out. "SkyView officials are looking forward to having a discussion with Help/Systems regarding the future of the partnership as it relates to DataThread," SkyView CEO John Vanderwall said via email. PowerTech partner Valid Technologies, which develops an IBM i-based biometric authentication system, was also an Innovatum partner that had integrated DataThread with its product.

"We are obviously going to make the DataThread transition as seamless as possible and are actively engaging with the existing DataThread customers and partners to accomplish that goal," Tatum said in an email.

Innovatum will continue as a reseller of DataThread to companies in the life sciences industry. But its product development will shift to its flagship product, ROBAR, says Innovatum president Ardi Batmanghelidj.

"This transaction signals an exciting new era for Innovatum," Batmanghelidj states in a press release, "providing the capital to further invest in our flagship product--the ROBAR enterprise label management system--and enabling an even greater focus on our core vertical of pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech manufacturers."

ROBAR helps regulated companies reduce the number of labeling errors by eliminating the manual input and manipulation of label information on packaging lines, particularly among large manufactures with multiple manufacturing sites. The software, which often works with IBM i-based ERP systems, helps eliminate labeling errors by introducing standard downloadable label templates, by keeping an audit log of all changes made to labels, and by instituting a workflow process for new label approval.

Innovatum develops two related products, including ROPICS, a wireless bar code data collection and inventory management system, and InnoTasc, a Web-based workflow tool for enterprise document and task management.

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