History
The core technologies of an information server are not new. Data integration technologies like extract, transform, and load (ETL), data cleansing and matching (both relational and probabilistic approaches), data profiling, and data federation or replication have been around for many years. Reputable vendors and several discrete but inter-related markets focus on solutions for these differing styles of data integration (ETL, data quality, data replication, data federation, etc.).
As a result of these multiple approaches to data integration and the distinct capabilities of the vendors, organizations’ approach to data integration has been one plagued by a lack of standards and inconsistent utilization of tools, multiple vendor relationships, problematic conflict resolution across tools, and a lack of unifying metadata to link all of the tools and information together. Additionally, the cost to train employees and maintain multiple products can also become cost-prohibitive to organizations.
However, since 2000-2002 these markets and function-specific vendors have been converging (see Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools 2006”). Vendors have been expanding their offerings to incorporate a broader range of capabilities and the lines between these markets and the once distinct vendors are beginning to blur. Both customer demands for a more holistic approach to data integration and a natural evolution of vendor technology is quickening the convergence in the marketplace to a more unified and integrated tool set that can streamline approaches to data integration. Additionally, the influence of Web services and service oriented architectures on organizations today is requiring that data integration vendors expand their capabilities around delivering information as a service so it can easily be consumed by business processes, applications, and portals.
In October 2006, IBM announced the launch of IBM Information Server, the first entry into this new category of data integration tools. It is the first unified software platform able to deliver all of the functions to integrate, enrich and deliver trusted information for key business initiatives. IBM Information Server’s architecture meets all of the criteria that define it as an integrated software platform for information integration, and certainly establishes a functional benchmark for other vendors looking to say they have an information server too.
Not only is IBM Information Server the first identified release of an information server platform, but the press and analyst community is further confirming the validity of their vision of where the market is going. The analyst firm, Gartner, recently placed IBM in the Leaders Quadrant in their recent “Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools for 2006” report. And Hurwitz & Associates recently commented on how IBM Information Server provides organizations with a unified approach to leverage their data assets.
Read more about this topic: Information Server
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