IBM opens new software development laboratory – the IBM Mass Lab

IBM has announced a number of software and service launches addressed at the mobile enterprise market, alongside a new a software development laboratory, the IBM Mass Lab, in Massachusetts, USA. Its first offering, Intelligent Site Operations, is a combination of analytics software and services that enable real-time remote management of basestations and basestation sites. This includes the monitoring of antennas, power, air conditioning/heating and back-up.

IBM has also introduced WebSphere CEA Mobile Widgets that help a retailer navigate their customers through their mobile website. The company is also extending its Lotus Notes email and collaboration platform to Android devices.

The IBM Mass Lab, taking in 3,400 of IBM’s employees, will focus on software development around enterprise mobile computing, the software giant said in a statement this week. Key topics which Lab researchers will focus on include IBM’s Network Sciences initiative, which will concentrate on self-configuration and self-healing of networks plus enhanced network analytics, concentrating specifically on 4G networks. The Lab will also cover specific mobile computing advances in healthcare, retail and finance. “We’ve been steadily investing in this space for more than a decade, both organically and through acquisition,” said Steve Mills, IBM Software Group’s senior vice president and group executive. He added that the advances would help IBM’s enterprise clients deliver greater intelligence to their mobile workforces.