Accelerating Information Management

Microblog packed full of useful tidbits for IBM's Information Management Business Partners. Managed by Lauren Borman and Deb Gonzalez. Follows the IBM Social Computing Guidelines.

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Information On Demand Call for Speakers: Tips for Getting Your Proposal Accepted

The Information On Demand 2013 Call for Speakers is now open. Proposals are being accepted for both technical and business leadership topics across Information Management, Business Analytics and Enterprise Content Management.

Here are a few tips for getting your proposal accepted:

Ask clients to speak alongside you - this is one of the best ways to get accepted

Make sure you are clearly describing business value. Review your proposal with your IBM rep or a colleague before submitting

Submit on time! Call for speakers ends April 30

Save the date!  Early bird registration opens May 15.

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IBM announced new technologies designed to help companies and governments tackle Big Data by making it simpler, faster and more economical to analyze massive amounts of data. New data acceleration innovation results in as much as 25 times faster reporting and analytics.

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The announcement, which represents the work of hundreds of IBM developers and researchers in labs around the world, includes an industry-first innovation called "BLU Acceleration," which combines a number of techniques to dramatically improve analytical performance and simplify administration. 

Also announced is the new IBM PureData System for Hadoop, designed to make it easier and faster to deploy Hadoop in the enterprise.

Read more.

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In a move designed to reduce the biggest security inhibitors that organizations face in implementing cloud, mobile and big data initiatives, IBM announced a broad set of security software to help holistically secure data and identities.

IBM’s new software capabilities help clients better maintain security control over mobile devices, mitigate internal and external threats, reduce security risks in cloud environments, extend database security to gain real-time insights into big data environments such as Hadoop, and automate compliance and data security management. Along with IBM Security Services and IBM’s world-class research capabilities, this set of scalable capabilities supports a holistic, proactive approach to security threats spanning people, data, applications and infrastructure. 

In the biggest announcement since the launch of IBM’s new Security Systems division earlier this year, IBM is unveiling ten new products and enhancements to help organizations deliver real time security for big data, mobile and cloud computing.

Get details on ibm.com.

[thinkvr]

A new global report released today by IBM  and the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford reveals that most Big Data initiatives currently being deployed by organizations are aimed at improving the customer experience. Yet, despite the strong focus on the customer, less than half of the organizations engaged in active Big Data initiatives are currently collecting and analyzing external sources of data, like social media. Via IBM News room

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Congratulations to the Information Management Business Partner Award Winners!

Over 2,400 IBM Business Partners gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the two-day Business Partner Summit at Information On Demand, October 20-21.  The highlight of the Summit was the General Session, which was all about celebrating the success of our Business Partners. 

One of the ways that we celebrated our Business Partner's successes was with the presentation of the 2012 Business Partner Awards.  These awards recognize Business Partners who have delivered exceptional client experiences via Information Management software throughout the year.  Congratulations to this year's winners!

Information Management CTO Innovation Award Winner: Premier, Inc

Information Management Integration Excellence Award Winner: Perficient

Information Management Solution Excellence Award Winner: TerraEchos, Inc.

Information Management Rookie of the Year Award Winner: InfoReady

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Hollywood magic and hard-nosed analytics made an unlikely couple this morning as the Business Partner summit component of Information on Demand 2012 drew to a close.

Both were embodied within the figure of Jeff Ma, the blackjack whiz kid-turned-analytics strategist. In a funny, engaging and at times highly personal presentation, Ma explored the parallels between blackjack table and boardroom and imparted important lessons to succeed in a data-driven world.

Originally an MIT engineering graduate and member of the MIT BlackJack Team, Ma parlayed his experiences devising analytically driven blackjack strategies into the success recounted in the book, Bringing Down The House. The book served as the inspiration for the film “21,” starring Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne and Kate Bosworth...

Read more on the IBM Software blog.

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The PureData System is the next step forward in IBM’s overall strategy to deliver a family of systems with built-in expertise that leverages its decades of experience to reduce the cost and complexity associated with information technology. Clients can have the system up and running in 24 hours, not 24 days, run complex analytics in minutes, not hours, and handle more than 100 databases on a single system.

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IBM is unveiling three workload-specific models of the PureData System:  

PureData System for Transactions: Retail and credit card processing environments depend on rapid handling of transactions and interactions. These transactions may be small, but the volume and frequency require fast and efficient environments. The new system provides hardware and software configurations integrated and optimized for flexibility, integrity, availability and scalability for any transaction workload. 

PureData System for Analytics: For today’s organizations to be competitive, they need to quickly and easily analyze and explore big data—even when dealing with petabytes. The new system simplifies and optimizes performance of data warehouse services and analytics applications. Powered by Netezza technology, the new PureData for Analytics system is designed to accelerate analytics and boasts the largest library of in-database analytic functions on the market today. Clients can use it to predict and help avoid customer churn in seconds, create targeted advertising and promotions using predictive and spatial analysis, and prevent fraud. 

PureData System for Operational Analytics: The new system can deliver actionable insights concurrently to more than 1,000 business operations to support real-time decision making. Operational warehouse systems are used for fraud detection during credit card processing, to deliver customer insights to call center operations, and track and predict real-time changes in supply and demand for energy and utilities.

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Information on Demand 2012 will be the venue for rolling out Vivisimo and our role in the IBM big data platform. To kick off our first Information on Demand conference, we’re hosting a get-acquainted event. If you are a current Vivisimo customer or partner, this is your opportunity to learn more about how we fit into IBM’s big data and information management strategy and to find out exactly where you’ll find us throughout the conference. If you’re not already familiar with Vivisimo, this will be an opportunity to learn about our technology and to meet the Vivisimo team and the IBM team that is helping to integrate Vivisimo into IBM both strategically and technically.

Date: October 21, 2012, 4:00pm  PDT

To register: http://bit.ly/PAeLBL

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Meet, Eat and Tweet at the Information On Demand Business Partner Networking Reception

Business Partners should plan to attend the Information On Demand Business Partner Summit Networking Reception, open exclusively to IBM Business Partners and IBMers who work in the channel. Join us at the reception to:

Meet with IBM executives and other Business Partners who share your interests. Networking will be facilitated at several designated meetup areas throughout the reception space.

Eat or enjoy a cocktail as you reconnect with colleagues or simply savor some downtime.

Tweet with hashtag #ibmpartners to have your Tweets displayed on one of several large screens at the meetup areas. Use these screens as a way to locate old friends in the crowd or continue the conversation with new ones after the reception.

Date: Saturday, October 20 Time: 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Location: South Seas E

We hope to see you there!

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Rupert Bonham-Carter, Director of Worldwide Information Management Channel Sales for IBM, discusses strong Business Partner performance over the first half of 2012 and key priorities for the second half of 2012 in order to ensure a strong close.

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Accelerate Big Data and Cloud with Expert Integrated Systems

On October 9th, attend a live broadcast event Expert IT: Accelerate Big Data and Cloud with Expert Integrated Systems, where you’ll see how built-for-the-cloud IBM PureSystems solutions make capturing value from your data faster, simpler and more cost-effective. Only IBM can deliver the built-in expertise, integration-by-design systems that simplify the entire IT experience, from data analysis to cloud computing.

Don’t miss your opportunity to learn how IBM PureSystems solutions give you built in expertise for superior analytics, simpler IT management, lower IT costs and higher value. Register now for the live broadcast on October 9 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, or attend a face-to-face event in your area.

[informationmanagementbps-blog]

Nominations are Open for the 2013 IBM Beacon Awards

The IBM Beacon Awards were established more than a dozen years ago to recognize  Business Partners globally for excellence and innovative solutions based on IBM technology.

As an Information Management Business Partner, you are eligible to nominate your company for the Analytics and Big Data: Information Management Innovation category for the 2013 IBM Beacon Awards.  This award recognizes an IBM Business Partner solution that most effectively applies IBM’s unique big data analytics platform to enable organizations solve big data business challenges.

What are the benefits of winning an IBM Beacon Award?  Watch the video below to see what other Business Partners have to say.

Nominations must be submitted by November 29, 2012, at 11:59 p.m., EST.

[informationmanagementbps-blog]

Adapted from a post on Mastering Data Management Blog.

...I am excited about today’s announcement of InfoSphere Optim v9.1, a single offering with three simple packages: InfoSphere Optim Archive, InfoSphere Optim Test Data Management and InfoSphere Optim Data Privacy. This new release will focus on market leadership features for data lifecycle management and privacy, particularly around four key themes:

1. Expand data lifecycle management – continued leadership

Customers have been asking our team, “How do I leverage Optim in my enterprise?” In this release, we’ve listened to our customers and found the most common integration patterns. InfoSphere Optim v9.1 is now tightly integrated with InfoSphere Information Server, InfoSphere Guardium, IBM Smart Cloud Enterprise and IBM Global Retention Policy and Schedule Management. These ease the process of leveraging and integrating comprehensive data lifecycle management.

2. Deliver data lifecycle management to big data environments

It is rare now that customers will not ask us about one or more of the four Vs - variety, velocity, veracity and volume. In the latest IOUG survey, 1 in 6 enterprises manage more than a petabyte of information. I expect this figure will double by 2014. In addition to Hadoop support, this release supports big data environments such as Teradata and delivers new pre-configured accelerators for Netezza.

3. Implement quickly and easily – the need for speed

Optim is known as the most powerful and flexible product on the market. In InfoSphere Optim v9.1, we have unified and simplified the next generation user experience, providing automated workflows to improve productivity, empower novice users and ensure faster projects.

4. Mask data on demand – yes, you can

Customers have frequently asked the team if they leverage the robust capabilities that InfoSphere Optim has been using to mask sensitive data in non-production systems, and make it available as a service to meet the needs of various use cases. InfoSphere Optim v9.1 offers this, providing flexible, real-time capabilities to de-identify sensitive data across the enterprise to protect privacy while promoting business objectives....

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Join Mark Register, Vice President, Software Business Partners and Midmarket, IBM Software Group, on October 11, at 11 a.m. EDT US, along with Shaun Jones, Vice President of Software Business Partner and Midmarket Marketing, for the IBM Software Business Partner 4Q Webcast where we will provide guidance and insights on how to deliver your most successful year-end ever.

discover the key actions you can take to close sales in 2012 and deliver a winning performance

learn about new announcements that can enable you to unleash innovation and create new business opportunities

understand the impact of major program enhancements made throughout the year that can help your firm's growth by turning opportunity into profitability

explore steps you can take to help extend your reach, generate demand and outperform your competitors

[informationmanagementbps-blog]

Capture the Big Data Opportunity with IBM Vivisimo – October 3

Find out how you can deliver innovative capabilities to your clients with IBM’s big data offerings and benefit from the recent IBM acquisition of Vivisimo.

Webcast: Big Data – The Time is Now! Date: October 3, 2012 Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EDT

Speakers:

Richard Grape, IBM Big Data Channels Marketing

Tracey Mustacchio, Chief Marketing Officer - Vivisimo, an IBM Company

Bruce Weed, IBM Big Data Global Business Development Leader

When you register for this webcast you will learnhow IBM Vivisimo can help you deliver great dashboards to your customers, how you can take advantage of Vivisimo offerings as part of IBM’s broader big data portfolio, and how to get the most out of big data at the Information On Demand conference.

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Very soon, we will see inside ourselves like never before, with wearable, even internal , sensors that monitor even our most intimate biological processes. It is likely to happen even before we figure out the etiquette and laws around sharing this knowledge.

Already products like the Nike+ FuelBand and the Fitbit wireless monitor track our daily activity, taking note of our steps and calories burned. The idea is to help meet an exercise regimen, perhaps lose some weight. The real-world results are uneven. For sure, though, people are building up big individual databases about themselves over increasingly long periods of time. So are the companies that sell these products, which store that data.

That is barely the start. Later this year, a Boston-based company called MC10 will offer the first of several “stretchable electronics” products that can be put on things like shirts and shoes, worn as temporary tattoos or installed in the body. These will be capable of measuring not just heart rate, the company says, but brain activity, body temperature and hydration levels. Another company, called Proteus, will begin a pilot program in Britain for a “Digital Health Feedback System” that combines both wearable technologies and microchips the size of a sand grain that ride a pill right through you. Powered by your stomach fluids, it emits a signal picked up by an external sensor, capturing vital data. Another firm, Sano Intelligence, is looking at micro needle sensors on skin patches as a way of deriving continuous information about the bloodstream.

Read more at nytimes.com...

[informationmanagementbps-blog]

Many of you are looking forward to Information On Demand 2012 as a chance to get up close and personal with the latest product and solution enhancements from IBM.  But the conference is also an opportunity to preview the latest technology from hundreds of other companies.  Yes, thanks to all of the IBM Business Partners who will be in attendance, we can look forward to seeing a broad range of creative and innovative technology solutions.

Some of the solutions that I look forward to seeing each year are those from our Information Management Business Partner Award winners.  The IBM Information Management Business Partner Awards recognize Business Partners who have demonstrated excellence in delivering business value with Information Management software.   Last year’s award winners, Perficient, Kingland Systems and Advent Global Solutions, all blew us away with some of the cool stuff they were working on.

This year, we will be recognizing Business Partners in four categories:

Information Management Solution Excellence Award This award recognizes an IBM Business Partner who has adopted and leveraged the latest Information Management technology to demonstrate a unique and powerful Information On Demand solution.  The solution must already have been deployed in the marketplace.

CTO Innovation Award This award recognizes an IBM Business Partner who is leading the charge in exploiting Information Management’s latest capabilities in innovative, cutting-edge, unique and exciting new ways.  It is not required that the solution be deployed yet in the market.

Rookie of the Year Award This category recognizes the outstanding performance and value-add provided by a Business Partner who is NEW to selling Information Management software, in other words, a ROOKIE.  Only IBMers can submit nominations for this category, so Business Partners should ask their reps to submit nominations on their behalf.

Information Management Integration Excellence Award This award recognizes an IBM Business Partner who has demonstrated excellence in matching the latest Information Management technology with customers’ needs in the design, implementation and adoption into a customer environment.  Particular consideration will be given to those solutions that utilize several IBM Information Management software products. The solution must already have been deployed at the customer location.

Completed nominations must be submitted bySeptember 13, 2012.

As always, I am looking forward to Information On Demand 2012 to see what our Business Partners bring to the table!