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Subject: OS2News: IBM Data Mining Solution
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IBM Announces Data Mining Solution for Improved Decision Making               
 
April 2, 1996                                                                 
 
                                                                              
 
New Ammo for Knowledge Discovery and                                          
 
Validation of Business Intelligence                                           
 
                                                                              
 
SOMERS, N.Y., April 2, 1996 . . . IBM today announced new                     
 
decision support offerings that allow customers to "mine" their               
 
data assets in search of high value business intelligence, such               
 
as hidden relationships, new trends and previously undetected                 
 
patterns, that can give them a competitive edge.  The new                     
 
products and services include:                                                
 
                                                                              
 
o    The IBM Intelligent Miner*, a knowledge discovery toolkit                
 
     for analyzing, extracting and validating data traditionally              
 
     held in data warehouses;                                                 
 
o    The IBM Intelligent Decision Server*, a LAN-based                        
 
     information analysis server for deploying decision support               
 
     applications throughout an enterprise;                                   
 
                                                                              
 
o    A number of customizable, cross-industry applications; and               
 
o    Consulting and services support to help customers in a                   
 
     wide range of industries take advantage of knowledge                     
 
     discovery and validation techniques.                                     
 
                                                                              
 
"Business intelligence is not just about building a data                      
 
warehouse; it's about detecting something that you didn't know                
 
before," said Tim Negris, vice president, Sales and Marketing,                
 
IBM Software Solutions Division.  "Now all types of companies --              
 
both large and small -- can leverage the tremendous business                  
 
benefits that were previously only available to large                         
 
corporations who could afford customized data mining and business             
 
intelligence solutions."                                                      
 
                                                                              
 
"Our studies show a real need for this type of technology in                  
 
retailing, diversified financial services, telecommunications,                
 
and other markets," said Aaron Zornes, executive vice president               
 
of META Group's Application Development Strategies.  "During                  
 
1996, we believe that IBM's data mining toolkit and related                   
 
service offerings will set the pace for large-scale business                  
 
technology initiatives in data warehousing."                                  
 
                                                                              
 
IBM Intelligent Miner                                                         
 
                                                                              
 
The IBM Intelligent Miner toolkit consists of powerful                        
 
algorithms and processing techniques that enable application                  
 
developers to analyze data stored in flat files or databases,                 
 
such as IBM's DATABASE 2 Parallel Edition (DB2 PE)*.  The                     
 
Intelligent Miner algorithms enable analyses ranging from                     
 
deviation detection, classification and predicative modelling, to             
 
association discovery, sequential pattern discovery and database              
 
segmentation.                                                                 
 
                                                                              
 
Through deviation detection, for example, a financial                         
 
services company could quickly and easily detect possible                     
 
fraudulent usages of credit cards by examining deviations in the              
 
credit-card usage patterns of its customers.  Using predictive                
 
modelling, a retailer could forecast changes in customer buying               
 
patterns and                                                                  
 
keep abreast of comparisons of purchases over the Internet or                 
 
through mail-order with those through in-store buying.                        
 
                                                                              
 
Through association discovery, a supermarket chain could                      
 
determine which products are most frequently sold in conjunction              
 
with other products, and stock these store items on shelves                   
 
accordingly to maximize sales opportunities.  An insurance                    
 
company could use customer segmentation data to create                        
 
target-marketing campaigns, or to cross-sell services among                   
 
existing customers.  Sequential Pattern analyses could help                   
 
medical researchers identify common patterns of symptoms that                 
 
lead to particular illnesses.                                                 
 
                                                                              
 
The Intelligent Miner also includes an extensive                              
 
pre-processing library of tools to prepare that data for mining               
 
and verification.  To improve the data analyst's productivity,                
 
these tools can be invoked dynamically, without coding, during                
 
the iterative process of preparing, mining and verification.                  
 
They include data selection, transformation and cleansing.                    
 
Additionally, a set of interactive visualization tools can be                 
 
used to bring out unusual features that might otherwise be                    
 
"drowned out."                                                                
 
                                                                              
 
"Businesses are facing competitors that are not just across                   
 
town or across the country -- but around the world as well                    
 
non-traditional competition over the World Wide Web," said                    
 
Ben Barnes, general manager, IBM Worldwide Decision Support                   
 
Solutions.  "Data mining is quickly being recognized as an                    
 
essential business intelligence tool.  IBM data mining tools and              
 
solutions can provide the knowledge necessary to improve a                    
 
company's market presence and differentiate their products and                
 
services in today's global marketplace."                                      
 
                                                                              
 
Intelligent Decision Server                                                   
 
                                                                              
 
The Intelligent Decision Server (IDS) provides an                             
 
affordable, easy-to-use solution to both Internet and Intranet                
 
users.  It allows them to develop and distribute decision-support             
 
applications based on advanced analytics.  With IDS, for example,             
 
a sales manager could request a customized market share report                
 
using a familiar browser front-end system such as Lotus Notes**               
 
or a World Wide Web.  The request is sent to the application                  
 
server, processed and returned as a customized report.                        
 
Meanwhile, analysts may also be drawing on the same server --                 
 
this time using high-end analytical clients.  Any change in                   
 
calculation logic or any new data discovery algorithm                         
 
is automatically updated for all users with no change in the                  
 
client software.                                                              
 
                                                                              
 
Application development within IDS is done in a graphical,                    
 
icon-based environment, using transformers (executable objects)               
 
to perform distinct functions within the Intelligent Miner                    
 
itself.  This speedy development environment also fosters the                 
 
reuse of object-oriented decision support applications that can               
 
be executed from any common network client software, including                
 
the Web, Lotus Notes, OS/2* and Windows**.  IDS's open                        
 
Application Program Interface (API) enables support vendors, such             
 
as Cognos, Business Objects, Andyne, Brio and others, to work on              
 
product integration.                                                          
 
                                                                              
 
Customizable Applications                                                     
 
                                                                              
 
IBM has developed three customizable, cross-industry                          
 
applications.  These applications include:                                    
 
                                                                              
 
o    Customer Segmentation -- segments and scores customers data              
 
     from marketing databases, including private and public data              
 
     sources, in an effort to better understand customer                      
 
     behavior.  Results are used for target marketing,                        
 
     cross-selling, customers retention campaigns, propensity to              
 
     purchase and consumer vulnerability analysis campaigns.                  
 
o    Item Set Analysis -- also known as market basket analysis,               
 
     this application aims to understand customer buying                      
 
     behavior, and to predict their future behavior by                        
 
     identifying affinities among their choice of products and                
 
     services.                                                                
 
o    Fraud Detection -- this application identifies deviations                
 
     from established usage norms in order to flag suspicious                 
 
     transactions which may be indicative of fraudulent activity.             
 
                                                                              
 
Business Intelligence Consulting and Services                                 
 
                                                                              
 
Customers can take advantage of extensive IBM Consulting &                    
 
Services expertise in designing, integrating and testing data                 
 
mining solutions for a wide range of industries, including                    
 
retail, banking, financial services, healthcare, travel,                      
 
telecommunications and insurance.                                             
 
                                                                              
 
Availability, Pricing                                                         
 
                                                                              
 
Beta testing of the Intelligent Miner and of the                              
 
applications on IBM RS/6000 servers with AIX and client versions              
 
on AIX, Windows 3.1** and Windows 95 platforms will begin in                  
 
April 1996.  General availability is scheduled for the third                  
 
quarter, 1996.  Versions for the AS/400 and S/390 platforms are               
 
targeted for later in 1996.  Pricing will be announced at a later             
 
date.                                                                         
 
                                                                              
 
The data mining technology will be available to third party                   
 
VARs, System Integrators and ISVs for outsourcing research                    
 
projects, as well as tailored business intelligence application               
 
development.                                                                  
 
                                                                              
 
IDS leverages the core technology of IBM's currently                          
 
available decision support product, Data Interpretation System                
 
(DIS), and will begin beta testing in June 1996.  The OS/2-based              
 
server supports a variety of clients including OS/2, Windows 3.1,             
 
and Windows 95.  Pricing is not yet determined.                               
 
                                                                              
 
                                                                              
 
Additional Information                                                        
 
                                                                              
 
IBM's Software Solutions Division provides data management,                   
 
application development and workgroup solutions for                           
 
mission-critical applications on personal computers, workstations,            
 
LANs and host systems.  For Internet users, IBM offers complete               
 
information about the company, its products, services and                     
 
technology on the World Wide Web.  The IBM home page is                       
 
accessible via http://www.ibm.com.  The fastest, easiest way to               
 
get information about IBM software is to go to the IBM Software               
 
home page at http://www.software.ibm.com.                                     
 
                                                                              
 
IBM's Worldwide Decision Support Solutions unit provides                      
 
sales, marketing applications, consulting and services focussed               
 
on decision support and data mining computing solutions that                  
 
apply advanced search analysis and data management techniques                 
 
databases.  These solutions are revolutionizing the way                       
 
businesses make use of information to make decisions more                     
 
intelligently and effectively.                                                
 
                                                                              
 
*    Indicates trademark or registered trademark of International             
 
     Business Machines Corporation.                                           
 
                                                                              
 
**   Indicates trademark or registered trademark of respective                
 
     companies.                                                               
 
                                                                              
 
Please Note:                                                                  
 
Questions about the content or currency of this press release                 
 
should be directed to your local IBM representative.