IBM introduces masala

From NewsFactor

IBM has unveiled Masala, a new database technology that boosts productivity by integrating corporate data from a wide array of sources. The system uses automated features and search technology to allow users to access and manage data from e-mails, spreadsheets, text files, voicemail and other sources using a single tool.

MASALA Q&A FROM IBM

* What is Project Masala?

Project Masala is the next wave of IBM information integration capabilities being developed to help clients grapple with the issue of getting the most value out of their existing information assets.




* What are we announcing?


Search is a fundamental capability within a company’s information management infrastructure. Masala provides advanced search capabilities to be released this year in DB2 Information Integrator.



* How does Masala search compare to internet search services?

Internet search services are concentrated on the needs of the consumer Internet market; whereas IBM is focused on the unique pain points of enterprise users who need to quickly find relevant corporate content.




* What is the business problem we are trying to solve?

Businesses lose money when relevant business information is unavailable to employees. IBM is targeting the core issue of finding the right information, to the right people without the IT complexity of existing solutions.





* How does Masala search relate to other search initiatives within IBM ?

WebSphere Portal provides basic search capabilities for Portal content. Masala adds broader content access, scaling to support larger implementations (500K+ documents), and is enabled for rich text analysis.




DB2 Content Manager Masala search provides native functionality to search both rich text documents and metadata for files stored in DB2 Content Manager along with other enterprise content.


DB2 Net Search Extender provides high-speed, scalable, integrated full-text search capabilities to DB2 Universal Database. Masala provides search for text documents stored in DB2 Universal Database and other enterprise data sources.



* How is Masala search related to WebFountain?


Masala and WebFountain share technologies but serve different needs. WebFountain is a hosted solution focused on advanced analytics for the internet, while Masala provides search and analytics capabilities for enterprise content.

Related Links :

* Search, Integration in the 'Masala' Mix For IBM

* IBM VP: 'Stinger,' 'Masala' Will Make Most of Data Flood