Data Modeler
on IBM System i

Related links:

Slides: Converging Architectures

Diagram: Domino Data Architecture

IBM DB2 Web Query

IBM DB2 for i

The IBM platform previously referred to as System i or iSeries is now officially named "Power Systems Servers" running the operating system "IBM i". For familiarity, we will continue to refer to these as System i and i/OS.

IBM System i provides an ideal platform for integrating Lotus Notes and Business Intelligence. The System i platform includes integrated DB2, so the database is universally available for data staging. Lotus Notes and Domino have been broadly adopted on System i because of its availability as a native email service and the broad assortment of Notes-based line-of-business applications offered for the platform. Finally, Business Intelligence is widely installed on System i. The DB2 Web Query product runs natively and has been eagerly adopted. With the recent IBM acquisition of Cognos, IBM is optimizing the Cognos BI Server for the AIX environment running on a Power Systems server next to DB2 for i running in IBM i.

The Sun & Son Data Modeler for Notes family of products uniquely meet the needs for Lotus Notes integration on the IBM System i platform.

• Data Modeler is certified on IBM i
• DataBridge staging to DB2 for i
• Native support for DB2 Web Query metadata models
• Support for the upcoming JDBC driver for Notes
• Composite Applications on IBM i

Sun & Son has been actively working with IBM to certify the Data Modeler and provide full native functionality. As a native Notes application, all of the rich Data Modeler and DataBridge functionality is now available on System i. The Data Modeler has been certified to run on the Lotus Domino Server for System i versions 6.5 and later and on i5/OS V5R4 and later.

The Data Modeler DataBridge works with DB2 for i, allowing Notes data to be staged to DB2 for reporting and analysis by any BI application.

With the Data Modeler version 1.6, you can now create native metadata Model Definition Files for DB2 Web Query as well as for Cognos BI. This means that metadata models created by the Data Modeler can be used immediately by DB2 Web Query with no additional manipulation or processing .

The upcoming JDBC driver for Notes will allow BI applications on System i to query live Notes data in real time. This will allow BI applications to access Notes data without staging, similar to using ODBC on Windows platforms. The Notes JDBC driver will be available early in 2009.

With the availability of Composite Applications with Notes 8, System i becomes a powerful platform for serving Composite Application interfaces to i users through Notes 8. All of the critical components for Composite Applications are available directly on the System i platform - Lotus Domino messaging, collaboration and business applications; DB2 data tables, data marts and application data; native Business Intelligence for reporting, tracking and analysis; Data Modeler for integration between Notes data and Business Intelligence. System i now becomes a self-contained and fully functional platform for powerful Lotus Notes 8 Composite Applications.

In summary, the Data Modeler for Notes on System i now provides all of the powerful and unique capabilities for Lotus Notes integration that it does on other platforms.