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IBM's IOD 2011: A Cornucopia of Solutions: Page 4 of 4

  • Among the key InfoSphere announcements at IOD were:

  • InfoSphere Information Server 8.7: This is IBM's cornerstone product for data integration, and new features include strong information governance capabilities and support for big data. Information governance gives users a more complete and controlled view of their information so that they can take necessary governance actions. Big data is a hot topic, especially since integration of multiple data sources across an enterprise can be critical.
  • InfoSphere Master Data Management (MDM) 10: The focus of MDM is to ensure that there is a consistent view of master data (including a common definition of, say, customers and products, which should be simple but is not). Implementing MDM requires discipline, but products such as Version 10 make it easier for enterprises to use and benefit from MDM. Version 10 offers many new specific features, but IBM emphasizes that the goal is faster time to value through decreasing the time to go live with an MDM project and reducing the skill set necessary for MDM implementations.
  • InfoSphere Guardium 8.2: This product provides database security for key enterprise information, such as data managed by SAP or PeopleSoft, and can also be applied to a variety of approaches, such as preventing cyberattacks with database activity and privileged user monitoring. The latest version applies automation features along with virtualized grid and cloud capabilities.
  • InfoSphere BigInsights V1.3 and InfoSphere Streams 2.0: These products are big data-oriented. BigInsights is designed to make Hadoop useful to the enterprise, and Streams 2.0 enables the use of big data analytics in real time.

    We covered a lot of ground here, yet it comprises only a small fraction of what was discussed at IOD 2011. Hopefully, you got some perspective on the breadth and depth of what is happening on IBM’s information management waterfront. To reiterate, the company has three general focus areas that IOD addresses:

  • Enterprise content management: This is not just your father’s ECM. Social content management shows that IBM is aware of what is happening in this space and providing ECM capabilities to meet the market needs. The use of content analytics in ECM illustrates IBM’s firm belief that analytics have a much wider range of applicability than many customers and competing vendors have previously imagined.
  • Data management software and data warehouse systems: IBM’s old database system goodies, IMS, DB2, and Informix, just keep ticking away. Traditional data warehousing systems can no longer keep up with all the analytics businesses need, and IBM has delivered (and will continue to deliver) technologies that complement traditional data warehousing.
  • InfoSphere: Data integration across a number of business and organizational dimensions is critical if enterprises are to make better use of valuable data resources, and IBM’s enhanced solutions can aid this endeavor.

    Your head may be spinning, but that is IT today. A lot is going on not only by IBM, but also by many other vendors large and small and customers, too, who do innovative things. At IOD 2011, IBM’s innovative wares were clearly on display.

    IBM is currently a client of David Hill and the Mesabi Group.