Unifi Deal Expands Boomi, Dell’s Data Prep Tools

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Boomi’s acquisition of data cataloger Unifi Software buttresses the automated IT strategy of the buyer’s parent, Dell Technologies, by combining Unifi’s data tools with Boomi’s existing integration and data management platform.

The deal announced Tuesday (Dec. 17) gives Boomi a suite of self-service data tools built around Unifi’s AI-based data catalog that can be accessed via natural language queries.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Boomi did say it expects the deal to close in the “near future.”

Unifi, San Mateo, Calif., touts its data preparation and catalog platform as allowing recommendations as well as discovery of similar data sets along with support for natural language queries.

Boomi said the acquisition would allow its customers to get a handle on unknown data, which currently makes up the majority of enterprise data stores. The Dell unit asserts that the rise of multi-cloud deployments along with edge and hybrid IT has added to current operational silos.

The resulting unknown data represents “a huge blind spot when transforming your business,” said Boomi CEO Chris McNabb.

“The addition of Unifi to Boomi’s data integration platform breaks down the barriers of operational data silos and democratizes the flow of information across the enterprise,” Steve Wood, Boomi’s chief product office, added in an email.

“These new capabilities bring self-service data discovery, catalog and preparation tools to empower business users providing a more complete solution to solve data integration challenges,” Wood added.

The Unifi deal also helps expand Dell Technologies’ efforts to consolidate infrastructure to integrate and manage data. The company’s (NYSE: DELL) automated IT strategy unveiled last month has Dell EMC providing foundational computing, storage and networking resources while its VMware unit provides infrastructure management.

The third leg in the blueprint involves Dell’s Virtustream and Pivotal units delivering cloud and application orchestration.

Wood said the Unifi acquisition boosts Boomi’s ability to provide data and application integration via its platform-as-a-service. Ultimately, Wood added, the goal is to link data, systems, applications, business processes and data users.

Unifi was ranked among the industry leaders in machine learning data catalogs in a survey released last year by market tracker Forrester. Unifi’s data platform was lauded for its natural language interface for querying data. It was also praised for combining data preparation and self-service capabilities with its data catalog functionality.

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