First Look at Informatica’s Cloud Data Integration Apps Store

There are two competing approaches to the emerging field of cloud-oriented data management. One is tied to the field of “big data,” and is based on the theory that unique data from disparate sources can be unified through a single repository or warehouse – this is the IBM ideal that is making advances this week at the company’s Impact 2012 conference in Las Vegas.

The other may seem just as wild: Every enterprise will have a unique repertoire of data sources, some of which will need to be paired. Informatica’s theory is that IT departments will discover the ways to integrate these disparate data sources on their own, and then once they attain a solution, will be willing to share their discoveries with the rest of the world through a kind of apps store. It’s the basis behind the Informatica Cloud platform, to which ReadWriteWeb introduced you last November (Informatica’s Integration Cloud Bridges SAP, Salesforce, Others), and which today took the next critical step: the launch of a Developer Edition of the tool kit Informatica customers will use to create these integration apps.

“One of our core technologies is data federation,” stated Informatica’s cloud marketing vice president, Darren Cunningham, in an interview with ReadWriteWeb today.