Ardent Software, Inc. announced that it will partner with NEON Systems, Inc. This partnership complements Ardent’s DataStage Suite by providing customers with direct access to DB2 for OS/390-MVS through NEON’s Shadow Direct middleware. Shadow Direct provides direct access to mainframe-based data from client/server and n-tier environments such as UNIX and Windows NT. Together with NEON, Ardent now offers the data warehouse market’s most comprehensive selection of mainframe data access options. Ardent’s DataStage Suite includes a complete data movement and integration solution with native access to data from mainframe, Unix, and Windows NT environments; data quality assurance capabilities; and full lifecycle meta data management; all complemented by industry-leading professional services. NEON’s Shadow Direct provides direct access to mainframe data in DB2 as well as the ability to invoke DB2 stored procedures. NEON’s Shadow Direct simplifies and optimizes DB2 connectivity, thus eliminating the traditional performance bottlenecks and points of failure typical of other access methodologies. www.ardentsoftware.com, www.neonsys.com