ItemField

ItemField, founded in 2000 by Sam Somech, established itself as a specialized provider of data transformation software for enterprise applications before its acquisition. The company was headquartered in San Mateo, California, with its research and development operations based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Over its lifespan as an independent entity, ItemField secured approximately $17.5 million in venture capital funding from investors including Accel, Evergreen Venture Partners, Foundation Capital, and Gemini Israel Ventures.

The core of ItemField's business was its ContentMaster software suite, a product designed to address complex data integration challenges. This technology facilitated the transformation of data from a multitude of structured and unstructured formats—such as Microsoft Office documents, PDF, HTML, and various XML standards—into standardized formats suitable for enterprise systems. A key feature was its patented 'parsing-by-example' technology, which allowed users to perform data extraction, mapping, and transformation visually, without requiring programming. This capability was crucial for processes like business-to-business order transaction processing, patient record consolidation, and electronic bill presentment. The company primarily served clients in the demanding telecommunications, financial services, and healthcare industries, counting entities like American Airlines, American Express, and General Electric among its 150 customers.

ItemField's technology gained significant market validation through a partnership with SAP, which embedded ItemField's Conversion Agent into its NetWeaver suite in 2005. A similar OEM agreement with Informatica led to ItemField's ContentMaster being offered as an add-on to Informatica's PowerCenter integration platform. This relationship culminated in November 2006, when Informatica announced its acquisition of ItemField for approximately $55 million in cash. The acquisition was driven by Informatica's interest in leveraging ItemField's expertise in handling industry-specific data formats like SWIFT and HL7, aiming to enhance its own data integration product offerings. Keywords: data transformation, data integration, enterprise software, unstructured data, XML transformation, ContentMaster, data mapping, data extraction, Informatica acquisition, enterprise applications, data parsing, business process automation, financial services data, healthcare data, SWIFT, HL7, SAP NetWeaver, PowerCenter, Accel, Foundation Capital