Sybase iAnywhere announced that Catalina Marketing Corporation has selected Information Anywhere suite technology to help power its targeted marketing capabilities at more than 35,000 retail locations worldwide. Information Anywhere’s Afaria component was chosen for its ability to securely manage the information flow to Catalina’s retail locations.

Sybase iAnywhere will enable the rapid and secure movement of transactional data collected at the point of sale back to the Catalina data centers in the United States and Europe for analysis of customer shopping information. In addition, the Sybase iAnywhere technology manages the delivery of graphic-rich custom information back to store systems, enabling on-the-spot generation of high-impact, full-color graphic advertisements or coupons tailored to the individual customer’s buying behavior.

“Scalability and security were major factors in our decision to select Sybase iAnywhere. As our network of retailers has grown, our data requirements have grown exponentially since our successful introduction of color coupon generation at point-of-sale. We needed a solution that could scale to meet our demands today and in the future, and which could ensure that customer information is protected – while only requiring minimal bandwidth over retailers’ networks,” said William Geffert, Sr. Vice President of Information Technology at Catalina Marketing. “Sybase iAnywhere demonstrated technical leadership, as well as an understanding of the specialized nature of the retail marketplace. This is an exciting partnership.”

“Catalina Marketing is truly revolutionizing the retail industry by using behavioral data to effectively and individually target customers,” said Joe Owen, vice president, engineering, Sybase iAnywhere. “With years of experience at managing and securing data transactions for more than 800 retail customers, Sybase iAnywhere uniquely addresses the complexities of retail environments, and is proud to be part of Catalina’s innovative marketing system.”