IBM looks to big data for new PureSystems launch

The computing giant says the new platforms will enable businesses to efficiently monitor and action insights for tasks such as fraud detection in credit card processing, customer service support in call centres and predicting demand for utilities.

IBM says it has been able to expand the PureSystems family as a result of over $2bn investments in R&D and acquisitions over four years, including the $1.7bn acquisition of big data analytics company Netezza in 2010.

“We are on the leading edge of a new era of computing where clients can process vast amounts of information in real time and in ways that can fundamentally transform how business gets done,” said IBM information management general manager Arvind Krishna.

“To accelerate this transformation, we need to simplify and speed the deployment of new capabilities, and greatly reduce the cost of IT operations.”

IBM introduced the PureSystems line of integrated hardware systems in April, which are pre-packaged combinations of IBM hardware and software configured for specific tasks. Previous releases include the PureFlex and PureApplication systems.

The company’s social media strategist David Pittman recently told Research that big data was growing in demand among its client base: “What we have seen in our research is that maybe 30-40% of companies are actually partaking in some sort of big data initiative right now,” he said.