Introducing ibi Open Data Hub for Mainframe

ibi™ Open Data Hub for Mainframe is a data virtualization solution that easily connects your existing BI platform to virtually any database, file format, application, or web service in your Enterprise. In addition, these connections are made in a curated, secure, real-time, trusted manner.

The ibi Open Data Hub for Mainframe environment is shown in the following image.

Open Data Hub for Mainframe Benefits

The benefits of Open Data Hub for Mainframe include the following:

  • Install once and configure at scale. Install and configure multiple data connections on one central server with little data preparation effort.
    • Access to almost any data source. Our data adapters use native database APIs, whenever possible, and ODBC and JDBC when required, as well as providing access to flat, delimited files, XML or JSON documents, and RESTful Web Services.
  • Easily establish secure data management and architecture standards. Take control of your data without undertaking a large data mastering project.
    • Robust metadata. Create a single, robust metadata layer for database tables and file sources.
    • Folder functionality. Classify metadata into folders to group related sources together.
    • User authorization for security. Categorize users with permission levels for data access.
    • Control data access. Administrator can control access to individual columns by user or data values.
    • Usage reports. Access reports that show what data assets are being used and who is using them.
  • Power up your dashboards with integrated data. Cross-database joins allow you to query and treat multiple data sources as one.
    • Data federation. Make all data sources, regardless of source, appear as one. The server queries the underlying data sources and returns a single answer set.
    • Virtualization abilities. Gain access to virtually any database, column store, file format, or web service, without the requirement to copy or prepare the data.
    • Data preparation features. Simplify or augment data, all built into the product.
    • Resource usage reports. See which users accessed which data sources.
  • Make it easy for end users. Provide a native and single connection to trusted data with real-time access.
    • JDBC and ODBC Connectors. Connectors installed on each user machine to connect to an Open Data Hub for Mainframe Server natively within your BI platform.
    • Direct pipes. Direct connection to enterprise data sources ensures real-time access and no latency for users.
    • Ready made and trusted data. Since all data is curated within Open Data Hub for Mainframe, users can use the data as-is within their BI tool.

Open Data Hub for Mainframe Components

The following are the components of Open Data Hub for Mainframe:

  • ODBC and JDBC Connectors to provide access to data from any visualization tool.
  • Open Data Hub for Mainframe Server to provide web configuration for data virtualization, data preparation, usage reporting, and optimized SQL generation.
  • Adapters to data sources to provide access to almost any database, column store, file, and web service.

The Open Data Hub for Mainframe architecture is shown in the following image.

Open Data Hub for Mainframe Users

The following are user types for Open Data Hub for Mainframe:

  • Business Analyst. Uses an analytics or visualization tool, such as IBM® Cognos®, Qlik®, Tableau™, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Power BI. The ODBC and JDBC Connectors provide access to curated data sources.
  • Data Administrator. Uses Open Data Hub for Mainframe to configure Adapters and connections to data sources. Creates metadata for tables and other data so they can be used by the Business Analyst. May also classify, augment, and secure data.