IBM Embraces Social

May 2, 2012

I wonder what happened to Watson. Surely that next-generation search technology has not been marginalized by Vivisimo’s “big data” antics or the “New IBM Business Integration Software [that] Helps Enterprises Accelerate Adoption of Social, Business, Cloud, and Mobile Technologies.” Wow, that’s like a digital Popeil pocket fisherman.

Now the secret sauce for this digital cornucopia is the new version of IBM’s WebSphere Application Server. According to the write up, WebSphere Application Server includes a business process manager, operational decision management, and the Cast Iron Live service.

What’s Cast Iron? It is an Application Programming Interface (API) which:

allows companies to extend their services to support the emerging community of developers who are building new social, mobile and cloud applications. This new purpose-built offering provides a comprehensive solution to deliver, socialize and manage business API assets.

Search, I presume, is baked in and based on Lucene, not the newly acquired Vivisimo “big data” system. How does this new server help me? Easy. The story reveals a use case:

One client – The Ottawa Hospital has already begun testing how these new software and services from IBM can dramatically change their business model. Working with IBM, they are building a new system that improves the quality of patient care and helps them to better manage the flow of patients throughout the hospital…the attending physician can send an electronic request to the patient’s physician for clarification on past diagnosis. The patient’s doctor receives the consultation request immediately on their most accessible device – a tablet, smart phone or a computer. They respond directly to the specific consult questions electronically, so the attending physician can correctly diagnose the patient.

Just the ticket for auditing data required for RAC, MIC, and ZPIC matters. I like the social touch too. Just what’s needed when walking the patient confidentiality tightrope.

Stephen E Arnold, May 2, 2012

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.