For Application Development & Program Management Professionals (Length: 7 pages)

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

Today, enterprise architects and information managers find it difficult to collaborate because metadata is not easily shared and synchronized across their tools and processes. Recently, IBM began to move toward a solution for this problem when it announced the IBM Information Server (IIS), which combines several technologies to support the delivery of information-as-a-service (IaaS). Although several vendors such as BEA Systems, Informatica, Oracle, Sybase, Tibco Software, and webMethods offer integration solutions for heterogeneous information, none has the breadth of shared metadata across products and the depth of services that IBM now offers. IBM has a long road ahead to include many other products that are critical components of an IaaS solution, but even with the gaps, IIS is a step forward and puts IBM ahead of its competition — which will follow closely.