IBM's Smarter Planet Evolves From Vendor-Push To Market-Pull: Page 2 of 3

Among IBM's announcements are analytics software (Netcool/OMNIbus) for monitoring telecommunications, transportation or any network that distributes data; software (Intelligent Metering Network Management) that monitors and manages smart meters networks for energy, water and gas utilities; software (Real-Time Asset Locator for Healthcare) that helps hospitals locate and monitor clinical and biomedical equipment in real time; and smarter buildings software that helps organizations optimize buildings' energy and operational efficiency.

Sturm says there was nothing dramatic or earth shattering in the announcements, but that's OK. "I think what was significant was the consistency of their messaging. There wasn't any big news, but that wasn't a bad thing. Companies that flip their messages every 18 months are just inconsistent."

Ptak was more impressed with IBM's product announcements. "It's hard to pick just one because they all represent significant delivery of capabilities that IT has been promising for years and which were delivered at great expense and effort or were incomplete."

Based on his telecom background, he thought the traffic analysis offering was great. "A major problem that will only get worse is not only how to handle the exploding volume but also how to be able to generate revenue from it without alienating customers used to 'free' services. Key to figuring out how to do that is having lots of accurate data on customer behavior."

He adds that the dashboard just touches on the importance of having a status reporting mechanism that facilitates fast, accurate, actionable decision-making when things are going wrong. "Too often, inadequate analytics fail to deliver all possible information available from the data."