IBM has used its "Information on Demand" conference to introduce a new set of business analytics software that combines social networking and collaboration capabilities. With the worldwide mobile workforce expected to reach more than 1.19 billion individuals by 2013, the company claims that the new launch represents "business analytics for the masses".
With a look-and-feel that mirrors people's everyday use of technology including support for new mobile devices and integrated social networking capabilities, IBM is aiming to provide faster and more collaborative decision-making in an answer to the planet's still-burgeoning global data mountain.
IBM says that its new software pushes data analytics away from the traditional format of reports and charts, to a more interactive presentation with broader analysis tools supported by built-in images and user help videos. Data analytics on mobile devices anywhere will, if the company's predictions prove to be correct, mean that business users change the way they to interact with their teams and customers.
With mobile transactions expected to grow by 40 times by 2015, IBM's new analytics announcements are as follows:
- Cognos 10: A combination of social collaboration (via Lotus Connections software ) and analytics for business intelligence in a single online interface or through mobile devices.
- DB2 10: New database software that combinex data from past, present and future analytics.
- InfoSphere Server: New server integration software designed to handle diverse forms of data with the ability to see the quality of data before it's used.
- Technology Preview: Of Hadoop-based big data analytics software running on premise and on the IBM Test Development cloud.
"This new software means that business users can benefit from accessing information with a range of views from simple real-time information to advanced predictive 'what if' analysis," says IBM. "The integrated social networking capabilities with analytics allow the employees to interact with each other in real time in communities, wikis and blogs. This combination fuels the exchange of ideas and knowledge that naturally occurs in the decision-making process, but is typically lost in meeting notes, manual processes and emails."
