06/03/96 BIG BLUE WANTS TO MINE YOUR DATA

BIG BLUE WANTS TO MINE YOUR DATA

ONE OF THE TRENDIER COMPUTER APPLICATIONS MAKING THE corporate rounds today is data mining. Using ``massively parallel'' computers, companies dig through volumes of data to discover patterns about their customers and products. For example, grocery chains have found that when men go to a supermarket to buy diapers, they sometimes walk out with a six-pack of beer as well. Using that information, it's possible to lay out a store so that these items are closer together.
Digging for that kind of data is expensive, since appropriate systems can range from $350,000 to a few million dollars. That's why IBM is planning a new data-mining service: Just send the records you want analyzed to IBM and let them do the work. The computer giant hopes the outsourcing option will be popular with small and midsize companies that don't have the sophisticated computer resources.
Here's how the system, now a prototype, would work: A customer ships computer tapes of the data it wants processed to IBM. Big Blue cleans them up--removing duplicate entries, say--and massages the data. Using a Netscape-based Web browser and other software supplied by IBM, customers access the filtered results via the Internet. The software will cost approximately $40,000, but service fees for customers haven't been determined yet. IBM says the setup could be available next year.
EDITED BY PAUL M. ENG By Ira Sager