Information management (IM) is the collection and management of information from one or more sources and the distribution of that information to one or more audiences. This may involve the key stakeholders owning and using that information. Management means the organization of and control over the planning, structure and organization, controlling, processing, evaluating and reporting of information activities in order to meet client objectives and to enable corporate functions in the delivery of information.
The success of any organization is becoming more and more dependent on unlocking the value of data and turning it into trusted information to help make informed decisions. The ability to deliver the right information at the right time and in the right context is crucial. Organizations are exploding with data, yet most executives would agree that they need to better leverage information, prevent multiple versions of the truth, improve trust and control, and respond quickly to change.
IBM Information Management solutions deliver trusted information throughout your information supply chain and help you analyze your information to gain insights, identify breakdowns, and make better decisions that will optimize your business.
IBM is a true leader in the IM space and has a host of services and software solutions to manage a company’s information. These are separate products and services from IBM and can be used in any combination based on your needs and budget.
Best practices for implementation of these solutions is to understand your core challenges and goals/objectives. Setting an IM strategy is critical before you start tactical projects. IM projects can be very complex and very costly if not managed properly. Initiatives should be joint in nature and sponsored by both the business and technical stakeholders in an organization. Roles and responsibilities should be defined with ‘Champions’ at all levels to ensure a company is working towards a common goal with common practices. A phased approach to IM projects have proven to be successful.
Measurement gates can be established along each phase so companies can manage funds, resources and expectations evenly throughout the IM project life cycle. IBM has been managing data since its existence and is clearly the market leader.
Below are service offerings and software tools that can help a company in their IM journey !
IBM Software Solutions
- PureData Systems – optimized exclusively for delivering data services to today’s demanding applications to address the challenge of growing volume, velocity and variety of data used today.
- DB2 – database software offering industry leading performance, scale, and reliability on your choice of platform from Linux, Unix and Windows to z/OS.
- solidDB – provides an ideal platform to build in-memory, real-time, enterprise applications that include universal caching.
- Informix – family of reliable, low cost, and hassle free solutions that provide best-of-breed embeddability.
- Netezza – data warehouse appliance with simple deployment, out-of-the-box optimization, no tuning and minimal on-going maintenance.
- InfoSphere – provides all the foundational building blocks of trusted information, including data integration, data warehousing, master data management, big data and information governance.
- InfoSphere Guardium – provides the simplest, most robust solution for assuring the privacy and integrity of trusted information in your data center, and reducing costs by automating the entire compliance auditing process in heterogeneous environments.
- InfoSphere Optim – reduces risk and costs, speeds solution delivery, boosts performance and addresses compliance requirements for databases, warehouses and big data environments.
- Analytics and Data Warehousing on System z – designed to cost effectively exploit the unique capabilities of the System z platform for delivering fast, reliable, and scalable business information for optimized business performance.
- Data Management on System z – mainframe data management solutions that transform data from diverse sources into reliable, integrated information and actionable business intelligence.
- Information Management System (IMS) – a premier transaction and hierarchical database management system. They enable SOA exploitation, secure your investment and enable new application development.
IBM Service Offerings
- Data Management – managing data from requirements to retirement, boost performance, empower collaboration, assure the privacy and integrity of trusted information in your data center, and improve governance across applications, databases and platforms.
- Data Security & Privacy – enabling organizations to have procedures in place to de-identify data across both production and non-production environments to comply with data privacy regulations and avoid data breaches.
- Lifecycle Management – the process of managing business information throughout its lifecycle, from requirements through retirement.
- Data Warehouse Appliances – out-of-the-box optimization, no tuning and minimal on-going maintenance, the IBM data warehouse appliance has the industry’s fastest time-to-value and lowest total-cost-of-ownership.
- Information Integration – The end-to-end information integration which allows companies to understand, cleanse, monitor, transform and deliver data as well as collaborate to bridge the gap between business and IT.
- Data Warehousing & Analytics – traditional multidimensional and data mining to mashups and industry models enabling the best approach for any client situation.
- Master Data Management – helping organizations gain a single view of data and meet growth, revenue-generation & cost-reduction goals.
- Big Data Analytics – a new era in data exploration and utilization. Companies can design, develop and execute a big data strategy that will enhance and complement existing systems and processes.
