Composite Software, Inc., the data virtualization leader, today announced that one of its customers, a large North American bank, was recently cited in a report by an independent analyst firm as an example of how to secure Information-as-a-Service (IaaS).

The Oct. 24, 2008 report, “Securing Next-Generation Information Architectures,” by Noel Yuhanna, a principal analyst at Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, notes, “Next-generation information architectures such as data federation and information services are gaining increased adoption so security professionals must ensure their protection from all relevant threats….These next-generation architectures revolutionize enterprise data access by federating disparate data sources but may bypass traditional data security measures.”

The report states, “IaaS provides a virtualized data services layer that integrates a heterogeneous mashup of data and content in real time. Unlike tightly coupled applications, information services decouple applications from data, making that data more shareable, integrated, and accessible, which enables better business decisions.”

In January 2008, the independent analyst firm issued a related report, “The Forrester Wave™: Information-As-A-Service, Q1 2008.” To help enterprises make informed decisions about the myriad IaaS technologies available, the earlier report applied 94 criteria to leading IaaS vendors, citing the companies as “leaders,” “strong performers” and “contenders.” Composite Software was named a “strong performer” in the report.

In the October report, after describing eleven steps to securing IaaS architectures, the report showcases one of Composite’s financial services customers as an example of IaaS security. The report describes the bank as “… using information-as-a-service to support its risk and compliance management applications and to present a single source of truth for customer-facing applications. The company is currently using Composite Software for its information-as-a-service deployment and is federating six data sources from various DBMSes ...” For the report, Forrester interviewed the IT manager at a large North American bank to find out how it secures its information services. The advantages the bank saw in using Composite Software included: 1) Support for pass-through and middleware access control; 2) Support for encrypted communication; and 3) Security for all of the data in the middleware.

“Composite Software is helping enterprises take advantage of IaaS for more agile business decision-making, and they’re delivering these advantages with road-tested security,” said Jeff Schneider, CEO of MomentumSI, a solution partner of Composite Software.

“We are pleased that our customers are recognized for their vanguard roles in important initiatives like IaaS,” says Jim Green, CEO of Composite Software. “Although Composite's IaaS solution can be used to implement ten of the eleven ‘recommended steps’ required to ensure IaaS security today, we’re not resting on our laurels, but are committed to developing future innovations that will ensure IaaS continues to deliver the flexibility and scalability vital to enterprises.”

A summary of the Oct. 24, 2008 report, “Securing Next-Generation Information Architectures,” is available at www.forrester.com. The report is also available for purchase from Forrester Research.