IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced new offerings within the Optim Portfolio to enable organizations to work leaner and more efficiently with capabilities to work across disparate data platforms as well as reduce development and administrative costs. In addition, IBM also announced new InfoSphere Foundation Tools, which will speed access to critical business information and manage information as a strategic asset. The Optim and InfoSphere portfolios combine to help organizations easily embrace IBM's Information Agenda approach by allowing them to manage the complete lifecycle of information regardless of the complexity of their data infrastructure.
IBM builds on its Integrated Data Management initiative by enhancing the Optim portfolio which helps organizations quickly design, develop and deploy applications across Oracle, DB2 and Informix software, amongst other software. The new Optim Development Studio provides a common environment for Oracle Database users to simply drag and drop data between Oracle Database and DB2. With the new enhancements, organizations can write applications once and deploy against any number of data sources. In addition, stronger portfolio integration reduces risks for companies to ensure strong data governance.
Israel-based ExactCost, an Healthcare IT solutions provider, recently migrated to DB2 9.7 from Oracle Database eighty percent faster than original estimates, saving two and a half months with Optim Development Studio. As a result, ExactCost was able to focus on their business objectives of improving performance and patient healthcare. In addition, ExactCost used Optim Development Studio for both Oracle Database and DB2 data-driven applications development, allowing a seamless integration across different platforms.
LIG Insurance, Ltd., based in Seoul, South Korea, sees IBM's Integrated Data Management as a powerful approach for monitoring overall database performance. The company now has the capability to capture database performance information and store it for comparative analysis. The ability to identify and resolve database performance issues quickly helps LIG improve response time and access to critical business information to support daily business activities such as handling customer claims more efficiently, improving overall business performance.
IBM also is announcing enhancements to the InfoSphere Foundation Tools. Included is a new version of InfoSphere Information Analyzer, which examines information and helps companies monitor the quality of their data, to target potential problems and identify trends over time for complete historical analysis. Information Analyzer can determine when critical pieces of information required for a business project conform to complex business validity rules, are missing or are incomplete. For example, business rules can be created to verify if claim payments are made to deceased insureds - a sign of potential fraud.
Zenith Solutions, a data quality solutions provider, agrees the addition of business rules analysis is a key aspect for organizations being able to track data quality over time. "InfoSphere Information Analyzer's data analysis capabilities are multi-faceted to suit any organization's data analysis needs," Timothy Moon, Managing Director. "Our clients tell us that trusted information based on solid data quality is critical for them to take sound business decisions in order to be successful and Information Analyzer helps customers do just that."
InfoSphere Business Glossary, another InfoSphere Foundation Tool, provides a clear understanding of business terms and categories so they can be used consistently across the business. It also provides the ability to track and understand the evolution of a term to improve collaboration and business insight on projects. Additionally, Business Glossary can now be directly embedded in any application such as a business intelligence system or even Web 2.0 mashups, enabling the proliferation of business terms companywide. To accelerate the deployment of Business Glossary, IBM is also announcing content packs which include a rich set of comprehensive terms and definitions for Retail, Telecommunications, Insurance, Banking, Financial and Healthcare. These packs jump-start governance initiatives by providing a common language for cross-team collaboration.
Another InfoSphere Foundation Tool, Metadata Workbench, supports compliance initiatives by providing a clear view of data lineage. It can be used with IBM and non-IBM software to understand where data came from and if it can be trusted. For example, Metadata Workbench can be used to examine information from a CRM or business intelligence report and determine where the data originally came from, such as a mainframe program, providing end-to-end provenance of the data.
"Today, organizations across industries are striving to improve business performance, streamline database administration, speed application development, and enable effective governance," Arvind Krishna, vice president, IBM Information Management Development. "The new additions to the IBM Integrated Data Management portfolio can deliver better business outcomes, reduce administrative costs with less risk, and provide capabilities that scale across enterprise applications, databases and platforms."
Other new offerings supporting IBM's Integrated Data Management approach include:
IBM Optim Query Tuner, which helps companies solve performance problems early in the development process where they are the least expensive and easiest to fix. Also included are Optim Development Studio, Optim Test Data Management and InfoSphere Data Architect, which combine to help reduce risk and protect data privacy across the design, develop and deploy phases of the data lifecycle.
To learn more about IBM's Integrated Data Management offerings, please visit http://www-01.ibm.com/.... To learn more about InfoSphere Foundational Tools, please visit http://www-01.ibm.com/....
IBM builds on its Integrated Data Management initiative by enhancing the Optim portfolio which helps organizations quickly design, develop and deploy applications across Oracle, DB2 and Informix software, amongst other software. The new Optim Development Studio provides a common environment for Oracle Database users to simply drag and drop data between Oracle Database and DB2. With the new enhancements, organizations can write applications once and deploy against any number of data sources. In addition, stronger portfolio integration reduces risks for companies to ensure strong data governance.
Israel-based ExactCost, an Healthcare IT solutions provider, recently migrated to DB2 9.7 from Oracle Database eighty percent faster than original estimates, saving two and a half months with Optim Development Studio. As a result, ExactCost was able to focus on their business objectives of improving performance and patient healthcare. In addition, ExactCost used Optim Development Studio for both Oracle Database and DB2 data-driven applications development, allowing a seamless integration across different platforms.
LIG Insurance, Ltd., based in Seoul, South Korea, sees IBM's Integrated Data Management as a powerful approach for monitoring overall database performance. The company now has the capability to capture database performance information and store it for comparative analysis. The ability to identify and resolve database performance issues quickly helps LIG improve response time and access to critical business information to support daily business activities such as handling customer claims more efficiently, improving overall business performance.
IBM also is announcing enhancements to the InfoSphere Foundation Tools. Included is a new version of InfoSphere Information Analyzer, which examines information and helps companies monitor the quality of their data, to target potential problems and identify trends over time for complete historical analysis. Information Analyzer can determine when critical pieces of information required for a business project conform to complex business validity rules, are missing or are incomplete. For example, business rules can be created to verify if claim payments are made to deceased insureds - a sign of potential fraud.
Zenith Solutions, a data quality solutions provider, agrees the addition of business rules analysis is a key aspect for organizations being able to track data quality over time. "InfoSphere Information Analyzer's data analysis capabilities are multi-faceted to suit any organization's data analysis needs," Timothy Moon, Managing Director. "Our clients tell us that trusted information based on solid data quality is critical for them to take sound business decisions in order to be successful and Information Analyzer helps customers do just that."
InfoSphere Business Glossary, another InfoSphere Foundation Tool, provides a clear understanding of business terms and categories so they can be used consistently across the business. It also provides the ability to track and understand the evolution of a term to improve collaboration and business insight on projects. Additionally, Business Glossary can now be directly embedded in any application such as a business intelligence system or even Web 2.0 mashups, enabling the proliferation of business terms companywide. To accelerate the deployment of Business Glossary, IBM is also announcing content packs which include a rich set of comprehensive terms and definitions for Retail, Telecommunications, Insurance, Banking, Financial and Healthcare. These packs jump-start governance initiatives by providing a common language for cross-team collaboration.
Another InfoSphere Foundation Tool, Metadata Workbench, supports compliance initiatives by providing a clear view of data lineage. It can be used with IBM and non-IBM software to understand where data came from and if it can be trusted. For example, Metadata Workbench can be used to examine information from a CRM or business intelligence report and determine where the data originally came from, such as a mainframe program, providing end-to-end provenance of the data.
"Today, organizations across industries are striving to improve business performance, streamline database administration, speed application development, and enable effective governance," Arvind Krishna, vice president, IBM Information Management Development. "The new additions to the IBM Integrated Data Management portfolio can deliver better business outcomes, reduce administrative costs with less risk, and provide capabilities that scale across enterprise applications, databases and platforms."
Other new offerings supporting IBM's Integrated Data Management approach include:
IBM Optim Query Tuner, which helps companies solve performance problems early in the development process where they are the least expensive and easiest to fix. Also included are Optim Development Studio, Optim Test Data Management and InfoSphere Data Architect, which combine to help reduce risk and protect data privacy across the design, develop and deploy phases of the data lifecycle.
To learn more about IBM's Integrated Data Management offerings, please visit http://www-01.ibm.com/.... To learn more about InfoSphere Foundational Tools, please visit http://www-01.ibm.com/....
