Basing on multiple data sources, today's organizations are constrained on spending a lot of time on data adaptation. IBM InfoSphere Federation Server helps in increasing the company performance and efficiency through letting many data sources act like they were a single one.

Today's companies don't have any other option but to keep data in multiple, differentiated data sources. The differences between sources become more and more meaningful in proportion to a growth of data volumes size - the higher they are, the more time it requires to make data types agree. Different solutions, often offered as a part of wide Business Intelligence suites, are supposed to reduce the meaning of the differences between company data sources. The goal there is to let business user work with multiple data sources equally efficient as in case of a single source. IBM InfoSphere Federation Server is one of these sparse solutions which make numerous data sources being gathered like they were a single one.

IBM InfoSphere Federation Server characteristics

• ensures a trouble free access to data originating from disparate data sources, including IBM DB2, Oracle, and SQL Server. This data is, then, combined and presented within a single virtual view.
• provides a single interface to manage (access, join, and manipulate) data saved in different formats, including mainframe, relational, and XML.
• provides users with a comprehensive interface which includes all the components that are needed for everyday work - SQL tools, portals, development environments, and other IT infrastructure objects and elements.
• requires only a single query to incorporate data originating from different data sources into reports and analytics.
• provides efficient security policies which may be enabled throughout the single view of the organization
• offers powerful hybrid data warehousing capabilities through combining the actual data with the one from the past.

The ones listed above ensure that users are provided with a real time access to data regardless of the number of data sources it originates from what distinguishes InfoSphere Federation Server from other vendors' solutions. What it results in is significant acceleration of the so called time to value (for instance, time to market in case of innovative products, etc.). Remote data helps in extending data warehouses and data marts, while holistic financial, customer, and product views boost the decision making process, influencing on the organization performance at once.

IBM InfoSphere Federation Server features

The most meaningful features which influence on everyday operating within IBM InfoSphere Federation Server include:

• simultaneous multiple data sources update. Federated two-phase commit is responsible for data integrity and accuracy maintenance.
• federated store procedures - it allows to re-use the previously developed procedures by spreading them over the heterogeneous data sources. What it results in is a chance to avoid at least a part of unnecessary costs of deployment.
• query optimization oriented on cost reductions. It allows to save money through enhancing the performance of queries.
• powerful XML support ensures a trouble free integration of SQL data with XML data (originating from DB2 TrueXML as well as XML files). What it results in is significant programming costs reduction followed with acceleration of the time needed for delivering the information to its end users.
• optimal security strategies to ensure the highest level of federated query as well as federated updates processing security.
• access paradigm based on SQL that ensures efficient federation across multiple and differentiated content and data sources.
• application program interface which is used for addressing the business needs across the organizations which require a federated access to numerous unstructured data sources.

IBM InfoSphere Federation Server resources:

https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/iis - IBM official website includes a separate section devoted to IBM InfoSphere Federation Server where what one could find is a short overview of the solution, followed with a bunch of chosen features and benefits. Additionally, there is a comprehensive specification of technical requirements included. If one doesn't consider the information sufficient, he may try the white papers which are linked from the section, but beware - there is a registration needed to access any brochure or document.

http://www.channeldb2.com/profiles/blogs/infosphere-federation-server - if one doesn't want to waste the time on looking for IBM InfoSphere Federation Server resources, here is a website for him. The included note contains almost all the links to diverse materials devoted to the solution and placed over the Internet. In most of cases, there are official documents by IBM included, nonetheless a few else originate from external sources.