IBM is continuing its push its effort to help businesses leverage their information with the release of several new products and services.

The offerings are being unveiled in conjunction with the IBM Information On Demand conference held Oct. 26 to 31 in Las Vegas. The company has a number of announcements relating to its software business, including enhancements to its InfoSphere and ECM (Enterprise Content Management) portfolios.

New functionality combines InfoSphere Master Data Management Server with key components of IBM InfoSphere Information Server to help organizations get an operational master data management solution up and running faster and more cheaply. IBM is also pulling the covers off a new version of InfoSphere, extending the product's DataStage module to ease integration and make it simpler to sort through large volumes of data stored within enterprise databases.

In addition, the company announced a new item-tracking application called InfoSphere Traceability Server, and has aligned the InfoSphere portfolio more closely with Cognos 8.

Click here to read more about IBM's Information On Demand plans.

IBM also has a number of plans for its ECM line. The company's enhancements to the FileNet P8 4.5 platform's core modules include the addition of IBM FileNet Business Process Manager 4.5, which enables users to launch FileNet BPM processes for content in multiple repositories. The company also released IBM FileNet Content Manager 4.5, which enables intuitive integration with Lotus Quickr, Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft SharePoint, allowing users to make choices while interacting with and benefiting from ECM capabilities, IBM officials said.

Also in the company's lineup are IBM Content Manager 8.4.1 and IBM CMOD (Content Manager OnDemand) 8.4.1.

"Organizations need information to innovate and optimize their businesses, but many struggle with how to manage all the information that they have," Ken Bisconti, vice president of products and strategy for IBM Enterprise Content Management, said in a statement. "IBM's focus on agility with ECM software helps clients address many important challenges, such as how to globally integrate solutions with immense volumes of information and optimize their processes while managing regulatory requirements."

The company is also planning to bolster its Optim portfolio with 11 new integrated data management products by the end of the fourth quarter.

Outside the realm of software, IBM is launching Information on Demand Competency Center Services. The consulting services are focused on leveraging analytics software to help customers organize their approach to business optimization by bringing together people, processes and technology offerings, IBM officials said.