INDUSTRY

MicroStrategy, a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence software, and SPSS, a leading worldwide provider of predictive analytics software, today announced that they have signed a strategic alliance agreement. As part of the agreement, the two companies will engage in joint business development and cooperative marketing programs. By combining MicroStrategy's advanced business intelligence technology with the leading-edge insights of SPSS' predictive analytics, customers can better optimize the use of their data to improve business performance and project future trends. Through PMML (predictive modeling mark-up language) integration, MicroStrategy and SPSS customers can leverage SPSS' predictive analysis algorithms using MicroStrategy software. SPSS technology is highly scalable and interoperable with MicroStrategy's offerings, enabling customers to perform predictive analytics using corporate data sources and to leverage existing technology investments enterprise-wide. "We're quite pleased to be forging this agreement with MicroStrategy, as our customers will be the key beneficiaries," said SPSS' Executive Vice President, Chief Technology Officer Jon Otterstatter. "This alliance's synergies will allow SPSS and MicroStrategy customers to fully maximize their use of both companies' technologies -- enabling enhanced data-driven decision making for a wide range of important operational activity." "The complementary technologies of SPSS and MicroStrategy offer companies key insights to improve business performance and make analytically-based decisions for the future," said Tom Villani, MicroStrategy's Vice President of Global Alliances. "While MicroStrategy remains focused on providing the highest quality BI technology, we also continue to build a portfolio of technology partners, like SPSS, to give our customers additional resources to maximize the value of their business data. We are pleased to add SPSS to our suite of value-added partners."