Common Information Models for an Open, Analytical, and Agile World

Maximize the Value of Your Information Throughout Even the Most Complex IT Project
Foreword by Tim Vincent, IBM Fellow and Vice President, CTO for IBM Analytics Group

To drive maximum value from complex IT projects, IT professionals need a deep understanding of the information their projects will use. Too often, however, IT treats information as an afterthought: the “poor stepchild” behind applications and infrastructure. That needs to change. This book will help you change it.

Five senior IBM architects show you how to use information-centric views to give data a central role in project design and delivery. Using Common Information Models (CIM), you learn how to standardize the way you represent information, making it easier to design, deploy, and evolve even the most complex systems.

Using a complete case study, the authors explain what CIMs are, how to build them, and how to maintain them. You learn how to clarify the structure, meaning, and intent of any information you may exchange, and then use your CIM to improve integration, collaboration, and agility.

In today’s mobile, cloud, and analytics environments, your information is more valuable than ever. To build systems that make the most of it, start right here.

Coverage Includes
• Mastering best practices for building and maintaining a CIM
• Understanding CIM components and artifacts: scope, perspectives, and depth of detail
• Choosing the right patterns for structuring your CIM
• Integrating a CIM into broader governance
• Using tools to manage your CIM more effectively
• Recognizing the importance of non-functional characteristics, such as availability, performance, and security, in system design
• Growing CIM value by expanding their scope and usage
• Previewing the future of CIMs

Mandy Chessell, CBE FREng CEng FBCS, is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, Master Inventor, and member of the IBM Academy of Technology. Her current role is the Chief Architect for Information Solutions in the IBM Analytics Group CTO office. She leads the design of common information management patterns for different industries and solutions. This includes the Data Reservoir, Next Best Action solution, and the strategy for information governance.

In earlier roles, Mandy led the development of new features for the CICS, Encina, TxSeries, WebSphere, and InfoSphere products. She has more than 50 issued patents worldwide in the fields of transaction processing, event management, business process management, and model-driven development.

Outside of IBM, Mandy is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a visiting professor at the University of Sheffield, UK. In 2001, she was the first woman to be awarded a Silver Medal by the Royal Academy of Engineering, and in 2000, she was one of the “TR100” young innovators identified by MIT’s Technology Review magazine. Mandy also has been granted an honorary fellowship of the Institution for Engineering Designers (IED) and an honorary doctorate of science by the University of Plymouth.

Mandy’s recent publications include Patterns of Information Management (IBM Press); Governing and Managing Big Data for Analytics and Decision Makers (IBM Redbooks); and Smarter Analytics series (IBM Redbooks).

For more information, see Mandy’s LinkedIn and Wikipedia pages.

Gandhi Sivakumar is an IBM Senior Certified Architect and service-oriented architecture (SOA) solution designer. Gandhi possesses 23 years of experience in the industry and has demonstrated technical leadership in large and complex programs of IBM including Telecom, Transport, Banking, and Human Services industries. Gandhi has been a technical champion in leading solution, integration, information, and infrastructure architectures across complex programs.

IBM honored Gandhi as Master Inventor for her innovations in addition to multiple Outstanding Technical Achievement Client Awards for the impact she created in client engagements. Gandhi has filed more than 70 patent applications spanning networks, infrastructure, data, integration, and others with IBM, and she holds a number of honorary roles within and outside IBM. Gandhi has published a number of papers and articles in IEEE and developerWorks. Gandhi served as a board member of the Australian Computer Society and has been portrayed as one of the leading technical women in IBM.

Dan Wolfson is an IBM Distinguished Engineer and the chief architect/CTO for the InfoSphere segment of the IBM Analytics Group. He is responsible for architecture and technical leadership across the rapidly growing areas of information integration and quality for big data including information quality tools, information integration, master data management (MDM), and metadata management. Dan is also Chief Architect for Hybrid Cloud Integration, working closely with peers throughout IBM.

Dan has more than 30 years of experience in research and commercially distributed computing, covering a broad range of topics including transaction and object-oriented systems, software fault tolerance, messaging, information integration, business integration, metadata management, and database systems. He has written numerous papers and blogs, and is the co-author of Enterprise Master Data Management: An SOA Approach to Managing Core Business Information and Beyond Big Data: Using Social MDM to Drive Deep Customer Insight. Dan is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology and an IBM Master Inventor. In 2010, the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) recognized Dan as an ACM Distinguished Engineer.

Kerard Hogg is an Executive IT Architect at IBM. He has more than 30 years of experience in information technology, primarily as an IT architect. Kerard has provided technical leadership and governance on many large and complex IT projects, primarily in the telecommunication industry. Many of these engagements have used a common information model as a basis for complex systems integration solutions.

IBM has awarded Kerard a Global Excellence Award for outstanding achievement as an IT architect. Kerard has presented on service-oriented architecture outside IBM including the Australian Computer Society and ACM Research Conference.

Ray Harishankar is an IBM Fellow and Vice President of Technology & Innovation within IBM Global Business Services. Ray defines and operationalizes strategies for IBM to have a strong portfolio of solutions and assets, and assists clients in adopting and benefiting from these assets. Ray collaborates with IBM Research to identify opportunities for development of innovative capabilities that drive value to our clients.

Ray is an industry expert on systems of engagement that include mobile, analytics, social, and cloud computing technologies. Ray is actively engaged with customers across multiple industries and with a focus on banking, insurance, retail, and Smarter Cities. Ray is on the technology advisory council for selected customers and universities and provides guidance to them on business-related technology decisions. Ray is currently a member of the Strategy Council for the College of Engineering at The Ohio State University.

Ray has been with IBM since 1999. He was nominated as a Distinguished Engineer in 2003 and as an IBM Fellow in May 2006. Appointment to IBM Fellow is the highest honor that an employee can receive for technical innovation. In 2009 Ray was named an Asian American Engineer of the Year. In October 2013, Ray was honored with a Distinguished Alumnus award by The Ohio State University College of Engineering. Ray holds seven patents and has filed several more. Ray holds a master’s degree in computer science from The Ohio State University. Ray can be reached at harishan@us.ibm.com.