IBM Acquisition Focuses on Data Economics

A lot of issues surround data management, ranging from the simple cost of storing it to actually trying to treat it like the valuable asset it is. The trouble is that not only are there multiple instances of data strewn throughout the enterprise, nobody is sure what data is stored where.

To address these issues, IBM today announced its intent to acquire StoreIQ, a provider of data discovery tools that IBM plans to incorporate into its suite of information lifecycle management (ILM) offerings.

According to Ken Bisconti, vice president of marketing for enterprise content management at IBM, StoreIQ makes it possible to discover what data resides where without having to actually move any data into a central repository. That creates not only a more efficient approach to data discovery, it provides a critical first step toward managing data more efficiently.

Bisconti says that IT organizations are under more pressure than ever to cost-effectively manage data. A big part of that effort is finding ways of disposing of data defensibly in accordance with compliance policies, which starts with first identifying data that is duplicated elsewhere in the enterprise and then deleting old data that is either no longer relevant or valuable to the business. That process starts with a content assessment process that needs to be automated as much as possible. In fact, Bisconti says greater appreciation for the whole field of data economics helps explain why content management as a whole is one of the fastest growing businesses inside IBM.

IBM intends to market StoreIQ alongside ILM technologies the company gained via the acquisitions of PSS Systems in 2010 and Vivisimo in 2012. With the amount of data that needs to be managed in the average organization doubling every 18 to 24 months, Bisconti says IT organizations working with their counterparts in legal and records management are highly motivated to not only reduce the amount of data to be managed, but also identify what data has the most strategic value.

More than a few business executives over the years have been heard lamenting the fact that they wish their organizations knew what they already know. As ILM technologies as a whole continue to mature, it looks like many of them may soon get their wish.