Information server
An information server is an integrated software platform consisting of a set of core functional modules that enables organizations to integrate data from disparate sources and deliver trusted and complete information, at the time it is required and in the format it is needed. Similar to how an application server is a software engine that delivers applications to client computers, an information server delivers consistent information to consuming applications, business processes and portals. Architecture overview. An information server application can be considered in three logical tiers: a platform foundation, a layer of information oriented services, and a series  of optional modules. Viewed in this construct, an information server looks like this: Optional components Services layer Platform foundation When fully leveraged on a single platform, the optional components and shared platform services clearly differentiate an information server from other traditional data integration technologies due to its holistic approach to information integration. Advantages. Trust Productivity Collaboration Scalability Reuse Business value. Most key business initiatives cannot succeed without effective integration of information. In fact, the IBM Global CEO survey (Jan 2006) found that organizations that were highly effective at integrating information were five times more likely to generate value than  those who were poor at it. Critical business initiatives such as single view of a customer, business intelligence, supply chain management, and Basel II and Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX) compliance require consistent, complete, and trustworthy information. An information server helps companies to integrate information in order to deliver business results within these initiatives faster, with higher quality results. History. The core technologies of an information server are not new. Data integration technologies like extract, transform, and load (ETL), data cleansing and matching (both relational and probabilistic approaches), data profiling, and data federation or replication have been around for many years. Reputable  vendors and several discrete but inter-related markets focus on solutions for these differing styles of data integration (ETL, data quality, data replication, data federation, etc.). As a result of these multiple approaches to data integration and the distinct capabilities of the vendors, organizations’ approach to data integration has been one plagued by a lack of standards and inconsistent utilization of tools, multiple vendor relationships, problematic conflict resolution across tools, and a lack of unifying metadata to link all of the tools and information together. Additionally, the cost to train employees and maintain multiple products can also become cost-prohibitive  to organizations. However, since 2000-2002 these markets and function-specific vendors have been converging (see Gartner’s “Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools 2006”). Vendors have been expanding their offerings to incorporate a broader range of capabilities and the lines between these markets and the once distinct vendors are beginning to blur. Both customer demands for a more holistic approach to data integration and a natural evolution of vendor technology is quickening the convergence in the marketplace to a more unified and integrated tool set that can streamline approaches to data integration. Additionally, the influence of Web services and  service-oriented architectures on organizations today is requiring that data integration vendors expand their capabilities around delivering information as a service so it can easily be consumed by business processes, applications, and portals. In October 2006, IBM announced the launch of IBM Information Server, the first entry into this new category of data integration tools. It is the first unified software platform able to deliver all of the functions to integrate, enrich and deliver trusted information for key business initiatives. IBM Information Server’s architecture meets all of the criteria that define it as an integrated software platform for information  integration, and certainly establishes a functional benchmark for other vendors looking to say they have an information server too.