Collaboration

Collaboration refers to the ability to share and reuse analytic assets efficiently, and is the key to developing and implementing analytics across an enterprise.

Analysts need a location in which to place files that should be made available to other analysts or business users. That location needs a version control implementation for the files to manage the evolution of the analysis. Security is required to control access to and modification of the files. Finally, a backup and restore mechanism is needed to protect the business from losing these crucial assets.

To address these needs, IBM® SPSS® Collaboration and Deployment Services provides a repository for storing assets using a folder hierarchy similar to most file systems. Files stored in the IBM SPSS Collaboration and Deployment Services Repository are available to users throughout the enterprise, provided those users have the appropriate permissions for access. To assist users in finding assets, the repository offers a search facility.

Analysts can work with files in the repository from client applications that leverage the service interface of IBM SPSS Collaboration and Deployment Services. Products such as IBM SPSS Statistics and IBM SPSS Modeler allow direct interaction with files in the repository. An analyst can store a version of a file in development, retrieve that version at a later time, and continue to modify it until it is finalized and ready to be moved into a production process. These files can include custom interfaces that run analytical processes allowing business users to take advantage of an analyst's work.

The use of the repository protects the business by providing a central location for analytical assets that can be easily backed-up and restored. In addition, permissions at the user, file, and version label levels control access to individual assets. Version control and object version labels ensure the correct versions of assets are being used in production processes. Finally, logging features provide the ability to track file and system modifications.