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IBM announced the availability of a new big data service on the IBM Cloud marketplace, aimed at making enterprise content more interactive, usable and secure.
The new service makes enterprise content available on any browser, desktop and mobile device and applies it in the context of key business processes. IBM Navigator on Cloud, now available on the IBM Cloud marketplace and built on SoftLayer’s cloud platform, will help all users gain value from the ever increasing deluge of content.
IBM estimates that 2.5 billion gigabytes of data are created every day, and 80 percent of that data is comprised of unstructured content such as contracts, claims forms, and permit applications. The explosion of the volume of content, and more importantly, new forms of it including Tweets and posts to social media, has increased the need to use any type of information from nearly any source.
Big Blue officials said IBM Navigator on Cloud is easy to use and delivered through a modern user experience. For instance, employees can quickly set up team collaboration areas that are accessible via the web and through a seamless mobile experience. Self-provisioning capabilities enable departments such as sales, human resources, finance or legal to easily customize the solution and content to meet their specific business needs.
“With today’s news, IBM is fulfilling an unmet need in the marketplace by providing a new service that combines enterprise grade security, governance and integration with mobile and web apps that are easy to interact with and use,” said Doug Hunt, general manager of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) at IBM, in a statement. “This new offering surpasses the promises of our competitors, and offers clients a simple and easy experience to learn, try, and buy it.”
Hunt said IBM’s service is built on ECM capabilities that have been proven in regulated environments, yet it delivers the ease of use associated with consumer oriented content management and file sharing applications without sacrificing security.
For example, a maintenance worker in the field can use a mobile device to pull up the latest schematics for a piece of equipment, take photos of a damaged part, make updates to a safety document based on a repair and synchronize this content back to the cloud making it instantly available to colleagues on desktops or mobile devices. Or, a human resources manager can work on sensitive policy and procedure materials that need to be reviewed and approved by employees in several locations. Built-in mobile content management capabilities provide authorized users with secure access to manage documents and provide feedback in real time.
“IBM continues to build on its leadership position by bringing new innovations to market to help clients like us find insights from emerging types of data and content,” said Richard Daley, director of records and information management at Tejon Ranch, in a statement. “The new cloud service from IBM will give IT staff, line-of-business managers, and executives the ability to share critical business content and help drive collaboration across the organization.”
IBM’s ECM portfolio is a key component of the company’s big data strategy. Last September, Big Blue was named a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management for its completeness of vision and ability to execute.
In addition, IDC, for the eighth consecutive year, ranked IBM No. 1 in worldwide market share for content management. The report showed that IBM had a 15.9 percent share of the market, growing more than three times as fast as its nearest competitor. According to IDC’s analysis of 2013 revenue, the worldwide market for enterprise content management software grew from $5.1 billion in 2012 to $5.8 billion in 2013.