Open source data integration vendor Talend has been working with Microsoft to build better interoperability between Talend's Open Studio product and Microsoft's business software, Talend said Tuesday.

Open Studio is an ETL (extract, transform, and load) tool that has been downloaded more than 150,000 times, according to Talend. The company also makes an on-demand version of the product, and an Integration Suite for use by teams.

While Open Studio already worked with SQL Server, the new work will result in compatibility with Microsoft's business applications, including Dynamics AX, Dynamics NAV, Dynamics CRM, and Dynamics GP, according to Yves de Montcheuil, Talend's vice president of marketing. It will also enable Open Studio to work with SQL Server 2008, which is set to launch in February.

De Montcheuil said Microsoft approached his company first and offered technical support to help create the new interoperability. The entreaty ties into Microsoft's recent efforts to engage the open source community, with which it has had a decidedly mixed relationship.

Microsoft, of course, has developed its own ETL tools for years, from the earlier Data Transformation Services to the more recent Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services. 

DTS was "very rough and very basic," de Montcheuil said, adding that MSIS "made a significant leap forward." Still, he argued, "It's probably well-suited for people who are in a pure Microsoft environment."

In contrast, Talend targets customers with highly heterogeneous environments. "We know information systems are a composite of technologies," he said. "No company is homogeneous."