Table of Contents       (The full document is available in the IIUG Member Area)

Introduction

IBM software makes e-business work, from small businesses to enterprises. Our middleware software allows interoperability between components of your infrastructure. Working together, IBM middleware software is the indispensable glue that unites hundreds of systems and software applications, and enables seamless integration across the business through open standards.

Software makes e-business work, and that is the software that IBM makes.

IBM provides software to help integrate, manage data, collaborate, and manage systems. This guide will explain how our software in each of these areas work with Informix Dynamic Server to help build a robust e-business infrastructure.

Integration

Integration is the single biggest challenge customers face in becoming e-businesses, and our middleware is the universal glue that is helping them make this giant leap into the future.

WebSphere software helps customers take applications essential to running their business and extend them to the Web. By integrating internal and external business processes, companies can accelerate e-business initiatives for customers, suppliers, partners and employees.

Information Management

IBM invented the relational database technology that enables users to find information quickly from anywhere in the world -- information that is easily accessible, available and secure.

DB2 Information Management Software helps companies manage information by collecting, analyzing and distributing data securely. It also enables mining that data to gain knowledge and insight, make better decisions, and gain competitive advantage.

Collaboration

The dream of every business is to empower its employees, customers and partners to collaborate easily and flexibly anywhere and everywhere, using whatever application they choose.

Lotus software helps companies tap into the 'know-how' within their organizations, with their suppliers and with customers. Lotus' messaging and collaboration solutions enable companies of all sizes to communicate, collaborate and share knowledge.

Systems Management

For all its benefits, e-business has created huge headaches for IT systems managers. A single software program can contain over a million lines of code, while a single network may connect thousands of devices from scores of manufacturers.

Tivoli software helps customers manage, integrate and automate e-business infrastructures. Tivoli software addresses the critical issues of Web security, storage management and pervasive computing, increasing efficiency and effectiveness of an enterprise's IT resources.

Software Process Management

One of the major factors in determining a company 's success in the on demand era is its software development capability. The new business demands and consumer expectations that define e-business on demand(tm) will require a higher level of responsiveness and agility from software development teams. And the software applications these teams maintain and develop must be ever-more innovative to keep businesses ahead of the competition. To support the on demand business and its operating environment, business software applications must:

• Adapt quickly to changing business needs.
• Capture and maintain a strategic advantage.
• Be reliable and scalable for the growing on demand business.

To ensure these advantages, businesses must rely on software development organizations to extend and upgrade legacy applications, customize and extend commercially available applications, and develop new applications that offer competitive differentiation in the marketplace. Yet, to leverage maximum value from software through customization, extension, and new development, most organizations must improve their software development capability with techniques suitable to the on demand world.

Specifically, they must embrace three software development imperatives: Develop iteratively; focus on architecture and manage change and assets. IBM Rational software, offers a comprehensive software development solution based on these three imperatives. The IBM Rational platform combines software engineering best practices, market-leading tools, and expert professional services, all of which drive rapid and continuous improvement in software development capability for on demand businesses.