IBM launches stream computing initiative

NEW YORK - At its annual investor briefing yesterday, IBM Corp. has announced the availability of its unique "stream computing" software that enables massive amounts of data to be analyzed in real time, delivering insights to enable smarter business decision-making. The new software is called IBM System S.
IBM also announced the opening of the IBM European Stream Computing Center, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland that will serve as a hub of research, customer support and advanced testing for what is expected to be a growing base of European clients who wish to apply stream computing.
Additionally, IBM is making System S trial code available at no cost to customers. This trial code includes developer tools, adapters and software to test applications.
System S is built for perpetual analytics - utilizing a new streaming architecture and breakthrough mathematical algorithms, to create a forward-looking analysis of data from any source - narrowing down precisely what people are looking for and continuously refining the answer as additional data is made available.
For example, System S can analyze hundreds or thousands of simultaneous data streams - stock prices, retail sales, weather reports, etc. - and deliver nearly instantaneous analysis to business leaders who need to make split-second decisions. The software can help all organizations that need to react to changing conditions in real time, such as government and law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, retailers, transportation companies and healthcare organizations.
According to IBM, "the enormous potential of this technology represents a significant advancement in information technology: using computers to rapidly analyze multiple streams of diverse, unstructured and incompatible data sources in real time, enabling very fast, accurate and insightful decisions. As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and instrumented, the amount of data is skyrocketing - not just structured information found in databases - but unstructured, incompatible data captured from electronic sensors, web pages, email, blogs and video."
By 2010, the amount of digital information is expected to reach 988 exabytes, roughly the equivalent of a stack of books from the Sun to Pluto and back.
Traditional computing models retrospectively analyze stored data and can not continuously process massive amounts of incoming data streams that affect critical decision-making. System S is designed to help clients become more "real-world aware," seeing and responding to changes across complex systems.
The software platform features a combination of more than 20 years of IBM information management expertise, five years of development by IBM Research, and more than 200 patents to create a powerful high-performance computing system that is adaptable to run on a variety of hardware
Among client examples: