IBM Expands Integration App

IBM is putting newly enhanced information management software into the hands of customers to help them gain greater control over integrating disparate data repositories and applications within the enterprise.

Last week, the Armonk, N.Y., company announced an open beta program for two key components of its WebSphere Information Integration platform that will be available in the fourth quarter: Project Hawk, featuring data management technology from IBMs Ascential Software Corp. acquisition, and Project Serrano, providing WebSphere-centric enterprise search and metadata tool functionality, IBM officials said.

As part of the technology release, IBM debuted two products: IBM Rational Data Architect and IBM WebSphere Information Analyzer, buoyed by a newly designed GUI. Set for beta in July and built on the Eclipse platform, IBM Rational Data Architect offers application developers beefed-up data modeling tools for automating integration tasks and sources.

IBM WebSphere Information Analyzer will be released for beta in September. Previously code-named Project Sorcerer by Ascential, the software shares a central repository with WebSphere DataStage and WebSphere QualityStage and supports data profiling, auditing and analysis.

Customers are eager to evaluate the integrated Hawk and Serrano technology to gauge its productivity improvements and determine if it can ensure data and content are made available to the right people and processes at the right time.

Atique Shah, vice president of CRM (customer relationship management) for Churchill Downs Inc., in Louisville, Ky., said IBMs revitalized WebSphere Information Integration portfolio will ease significant data management burdens on his organization.

"With seven North American tracks and 20 different off-track betting locations, I have so many systems providing information—I believe the number is almost a couple of million transaction rows we are processing on a two-day basis—thats a lot of transactions to manage," said Shah, who lauded IBMs integration of Ascential ProfileStage with new capabilities to form IBM WebSphere Information Analyzer. "Now I have automatic processes that pick up the transactions, validate and transform information into a standardized format."

Peggy Hehr, senior data and integration analyst for Jenni-O Turkey Store Inc., of Willmar, Minn., said the revamped Hawk softwares ability to extend metadata into a central repository will save immeasurable time and costs.