Making data smarter

28 April, 2020
David Wohlford
IBM

What makes artificial intelligence (AI)-driven applications smarter? High-quality, high-volume data. Now, IBM Storage is integrating file and object data with IBM AI solutions to make data smarter.

Enterprises looking to leverage the power of AI are learning that the accuracy and consistency–among other qualities–of the data fed into AI applications directly affects the quality of the results produced by AI. Better data in, better results out.

But this isn’t the only data-related challenge faced by organizations these days. Many companies have been deluged by so much business-generated data that they can’t keep track of it all. That, or they don’t know as much about their data as they should in order to make the most profitable use of these very valuable assets. Where does any particular data asset reside? What, specifically, is contained in each of those thousands or millions of files? How old is it? Who has access to it–and should they? Is the data compliant with the latest governmental and international regulations?

IBM Spectrum Discover simplifies data and AI organization. It is a high-volume data catalog and data management solution that provides a 360-degree view of data for higher productivity and helps to optimize data for faster AI analysis.

leveraging enterprise data for multiple use cases

Traditional metadata solutions for unstructured data aren’t designed to provide the level of detail needed these days for storage consumption and data quality–or integrate well to other AI solutions. IBM Spectrum Discover serves the important role of classifying and labeling data with custom metadata that not only makes it easier to find and recall data for analysis but can actually increase the value of data by imbuing it with additional semantics and meaning.

IBM Spectrum Discover is an on-premises interactive data management catalog that offers a detailed, real-time view of data. It’s non-disruptive to existing storage and applications and provides the ability to create custom indexes and reports for identifying and optimizing enterprise data.

Innovation within the IBM Spectrum Discover platform has been moving at a brisk pace. Today, IBM Storage is announcing multiple enhancements to the powerful data catalog and data management solution. This includes the capability to utilize IBM Watson® solutions and IBM Cloud Pak for Data to make data “smarter” and more valuable. Now, with just a single click, IBM Spectrum Discover can export data information from file and object storage systems to IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog, plus leverage other IBM Watson AI solutions integrated with the Catalog.

IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog is an open, AI-driven data catalog for managing enterprise data and AI model governance, quality, and collaboration. The Catalog provides a gateway to other tools such as Watson Studio and Watson Machine Learning that together provide wide-ranging security, research, governance, self-service, and data lake management.

making enterprise data smarter with ibm integrated analysis

IBM Spectrum Discover leverages the capabilities of IBM Cloud Pak for Data to enable secure, high-performance multicloud connectivity, management, and data movement to hybrid cloud-based solutions such as IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog. IBM Cloud Paks enrich basic container platforms such as Red Hat OpenShift and Kubernetes with additional functionality to enhance, automate and accelerate many tasks associated with developing, deploying and maintaining cloud-native applications.

Other recent enhancements to IBM Spectrum Discover include a new Windows SMB connector to ingest information from Windows data and more easily uncover security issues with files that are not protected in connected desktop environments. Also, IBM Spectrum Discover now offers the ability to optimize data in IBM Spectrum Scale with more granularity using a new policy engine.

Finally, to help organizations deal with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, IBM is offering eligible customers access to IBM Spectrum Discover for 90 days at no cost. Learn more here and register for this valuable offer.

AI adoption rates are soaring.[1] But getting the most out of AI requires putting the best possible data in. IBM Spectrum Discover with one-click connectivity to IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog offers a solution to transform chaotic streams of unstructured data into well-understood, easily accessible, totally compliant business assets. This is how data gets smarter–and much more valuable to the enterprise.

For more information on how IBM expands data and AI excellence with Watson Knowledge Catalog technology in Cloud Pak for Data, click here.

[1] Statista.com: Artificial intelligence software market growth forecast worldwide 2019-2025, April 2020 https://www.statista.com/statistics/607960/worldwide-artificial-intelligence-market-growth/

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