IBM today announced new software to help companies make better use of the
data scattered throughout their organizations.
The WebSphere products, targeting the so-called “master data management
software” market, are designed to present companies with a summary view of
their customers, products and other data.
The goal of master data management, a niche IDC says will top $10 billion by
2009, is to ensure that companies can tap software and networks to access
accurate, current information.
Such utilities can help companies better manage their service-oriented
architecture (SOA)
and help vendors avoid the pitfalls of failing to get products to customers
and partners in a timely fashion.
For example, IBM WebSphere Customer Center Version 6 help enterprises get a
quick glance of the status of each of their customers and the relationships
they have with the business. The new release includes more than 480
pre-built services that can be consumed by other software to manage and
access customer data.
IBM today also unveiled the new IBM WebSphere Product Center, middleware
that helps companies develop and manage a complete repository of product
information. This helps companies edit product information using enterprise
portals and lets retailers synchronize product and trading partner
information with suppliers.
Ideally, the software will help customers improve workload management, limit
bottlenecks and speed new product introductions.
On the surface, the value of master data management services might be
obvious: Helping businesses assemble their key data as efficiently as
possible.
But new compliance regulations that require businesses to validate where
information comes from, how it relates to other information, and when and
how it is derived is another reason why such solutions are high on
enterprise priority lists.
Corralling metadata
content, context, relationships and structure of information, is a key
enabler of compliance.
Accordingly, IBM has created a new WebSphere Metadata Server, which
facilitates metadata as a service to products within the WebSphere
Information Integration platform, part of IBM’s Project Hawk effort to integrate the assets
of Ascential Software.
The server allows metadata to be more easily managed, accessed by those who
need it, and shared across different infrastructures through an SOA.
IBM WebSphere Product Center and IBM WebSphere Customer Center are available
today. WebSphere Metadata Server will be available along with the newest
version of IBM WebSphere DataStage in spring 2006.
Releases such as the new master data management solutions help IBM bulk up its
strong position in management middleware, where it competes with CA, BMC
Software, BEA Systems and Microsoft.
The news comes as CA has descended on Las Vegas to introduce its new brand
and “Believe Again” strategy for winning back the hearts and minds of
investors who have given up on the company in the wake of accounting
scandals.
