Jim Sinur

The deal bringing ILOG, a leader in the business rules market, into the IBM fold closed in January. IBM gave us a good idea as to what they plan to do with the ILOG assets. Of course, IBM will keep the ILOG revenue stream separate and the IBM leverage worldwide will add new traction to ILOG sales. Two big questions remain in my mind.

Will IBM leverage Business Rules in WebSphere?

The answer is “yes”, but there is more to ILOG than just business rules. ILOG also has an array of optimization capabilities and graphical components that are strong. I expect that this will evolve over time, but I am hopeful that IBM will follow through on leveraging the optimization functionality. The business rule capabilities will certainly be leveraged inside of WebSphere at decision points and in smart SOA, but will the BRMS govern and direct the WebSphere platform? I will be watching for this to evolve

Will IBM leverage ILOG in Vertical Areas?

IBM has had strong frameworks in the financial arenas and Ilog has a sweet spot in transportation and logistics. I think IBM will leverage the ILOG’s presence in supply and value chain situations going forward. Will IBM finally implement their frameworks on a more agile WebSphere platform? This also an area I will be watching closely going forward.

IBM is saying all the right things, which for me is new and encouraging, but the proof will be in their actions. This is a whale of a deal, but herding the outcome may prove challenging