Moving Forward with the On Demand Real-time Enterprise

10 Moving Forward with the On Demand Real-time Enterprise

embedded inside a process. So, this term refers to the integration of analytics

with the business processes. It is a key technology in a real-time environment.

1.2.1 Information as a service

A clear direction in the marketplace it towards providing information as a service.

Why so much emphasis on information? Because information is power. It is the

power to make decisions, the power to gain insight into businesses, the power to

provide better customer service, the power to find new customers, and the power

to find new revenue opportunities.

IBM has set a clear direction to what is called

Information on demand. This is all

about

getting the right information to the right people at the right time. It is not a

product, it is a strategy, or direction. It enables the creation of business value by

integrating, analyzing and optimizing all sources of information throughout the

information life cycle, to manage risk, and help create new business insight. A

major objective is to reduce the cost and complexity of information availability.

Although information on demand is not a product, it will realized through the

implementation of products. And they will provide the information as a service.

What does that mean?

So what do we mean by information as a service? In Figure 1-3 you see typical

repositories as they appear, either running on DB2 or as a content management

application running on IBM Content Manager. There are also disparate data

sources from external suppliers and business partners.

As new tools and applications are built, the use of information is needed. And

these new classes of applications need not rely on the source of the information.

In fact, information sources change every day and the consumption of

information changes every day. Therefore, a flexible architecture needs to deliver

information as a service, when it is needed and in a standardized way, to

different users of the information in the environment.

Information as a service must be flexible - and based on standards, such as

XML, (xQuery) and JSR170, and Web services. Information could be delivered in

real-time, shown on the right side of Figure 1-3, like an online hub, for example,

or as synchronized master data, or as extracted by off-line analysis such as

Basel II. So information as a service, delivered more flexibly as the need arises,

empowers more users of information in the enterprise. The middle portion of

Figure 1-3 references IBM investments over the last few years both in acquisition

and organic development.

Chapter 1. Introduction 11

Figure 1-3 Information as a service: Separating information from business logic

Now take a look at how master data is being delivered as a service to multiple

applications. Figure 1-4 illustrates the situation. Typically in a large organization

you will see different product names and product numbers across the enterprise.

And if we want to move, for example, an over-stock of coffee beans in Mexico to

an under-stock situation in Texas, you cannot do it right now because the

product codes and information do not match

Figure 1-4 Master Data Management: Inconsistent master information

However, by implementing information as a service and matching the

appropriate information and delivering the master data, studies have shown that

you can get significant improvement in optimized promotion, moving logistics,

brand management, reduction in the number of calls to a call center, and many

other capabilities. In the example shown in Figure 1-5, the following resulted:

Destination: Business Functions

Roles and Applications

Sources:

Heterogeneous Applications and Information

For example: Online Help

and Synchronized

Master Data

Information as a Service

Extracted:

Real-time:

For example: Basel II and

Business Optimization

For example: XQuery, JRS170,

JDBC,Web services

Standards based:

CAN

Code : 21204

USA

Code : 21192

BR, CR, MEX

Code : 21186

CH, AUT, DE, UK, FR, BEL, NL, IT :

Code : 21184

DE, FIN, SWE, NOR, ESP, POR,

Code : 21190

BUL, YUG, CR, RO, SLOV

Code : 19616

ISR

Code : 21204

MidEa

Code : 21204

World Trade

Code : 19619, 19616

AUS

Code : 21190

HK, TAI, SIN, MAL, S.KOR

Code : 21188

JAP, THAI, INDO, PHI

Code : 21189

CZ, LIT, EST, SLOV, RU

Code : 2002494

ARG

Code : 21184

Coffee Beans GTIN

20012294219421

Gaining control

over product

information

results