Following on its repurchase of $18 billion worth of its own stock last year, IBM decided to re-coup some of its investments and spend some of its own money on itself by buying back $15 billion worth of stock today. The markets are happy with this kind of confidence and even the bleak news about housing foreclosures in the U.S. hasn't brought it down.
However, buried in its release of the new version of IBM's System Z out today is the new on demand analytics software, Cognos 8 BI.
IBM today is announcing new Information on Demand software for System z, including Cognos 8 Business Intelligence (BI) for System z. IBM Cognos 8 BI for System z combines the proven reporting and analysis capabilities of IBM Cognos 8 BI with the power and reliability of System z, enabling customers to use their data for competitive advantage, improve decision-making and optimize their business performance. IBM is also announcing a Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z customer beta program. IBM Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z will be available in the second half of 2008.IBM's Information on Demand strategy is helping customers gain access to the right information they need, when they need it, along with key business insights needed to address and respond to changing market demands. By deploying Cognos 8 BI for Linux on System z, customers will be able to easily report and analyze hundred of millions of transactions directly on the mainframe - ensuring everyone across the organization can quickly identify and respond to critical business trends.
IBM is also announcing the immediate availability of DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition, which provides a new one-time-charge offering that enables the deployment of new application workloads. This offering strengthens the role of System z as a cornerstone for key business initiatives such as SOA, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence and packaged applications such as SAP. DB2 for z/OS Value Unit Edition and IBM Information Server enable System z clients to further deliver trusted information for their dynamic warehousing requirements.
In addition, IBM will bring new Master Data Management capabilities to System z in the second half of this year. This will include the InfoSphere Master Data Management Server for Linux on System z, which allows businesses to centrally manage customer, product, and account data for use across an enterprise.
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