The Workload Environment: Data's Driving Force

Workloads are the lifeblood of digital success, seamlessly powering data, insights, and operations. Across 98 specialized groups (from analytics to engineering tools), they drive innovation and fuel growth. This article reveals how mastering these workloads unlocks data’s true potential, helping businesses thrive in a fast-evolving digital world.

Data Management and Analytics (data pipeline): 1) to 29)

Business Intelligence (data insights engine): 1) Bulk data movement: IBM InfoSphere DataStage, Oracle Data Integrator, SAP Data Integrator; 2) Dynamic data movement: IBM InfoSphere Data Replication, Oracle GoldenGate, SAP Replication Server; 3) Data quality: IBM InfoSphere Discovery, SAP Data Services; 4) Data access infrastructure: Progress Software DataDirect, Rocket Software Rocket Data; 5) Composite data framework: IBM Cloud Pak for Data, Microsoft Synapse Link, SAP HANA Smart Access; 6) Master data intelligence: IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management, SAP Master Data Governance, Oracle HUB; 7) Metadata management: IBM InfoSphere Information Governance Catalog and Watson Knowledge Catalog, Oracle Enterprise Metadata Management; 8) Self-service data preparation: SAP Agile Data Preparation, Informatica Enterprise Data Preparation; 9) Data archiving and information life-cycle management: HPE Structured Data Manager, IBM InfoSphere Optim; 10) Database security: Imperva Database Security, OneTrust Privacy

Data Analytics (data processing and patterns identification): 11) End-user query, reporting, and analytics: IBM Cognos, SAP Analytics Cloud, Oracle Analytics Cloud, Salesforce Tableau; 12) Advanced and predicted analytics: SAS Analytics, SAS Enterprise Miner, IBM SPSS Predictive Analytics; 13) Spatial information management: Autodesk AutoCAD Map, ArcGIS Desktop, Hexagon Intergraph GeoMedia

Structured Database (organized data storage): 14) Relational DBMS (RDBMS): Oracle Database, TimesTen, MySQL; SAP HANA, SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, SAP IQ, SAP SQL Anywhere; IBM DB2 family; 15) Low-code DBMS (LCDBMS): Microsoft Access, Apple FileMaker, QuickBase; 16) Navigational DBMS: Fixed record: IBM IMS, Software AG Adabas | Object-oriented: Actian Versant ODS, Objectivity/DB | Multivalue: InterSystems IRIS, Rocket Software D3; 17) In-memory shared data managers (structured): Oracle Coherence, Red Hat JBoss Data Grid, Pivotal GemFire

Unstructured Database (raw data collection and storage): 18) Non-schematic DBMS: Document-oriented: IBM Cloudant, MongoDB, MarkLogic, Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB | Key accessible: AWS DynamoDB, DataStax Apache Cassandra, Google BigQuery; 19) Graph DBMS: DataStax Enterprise Graph, Objectivity Infinite Graph, AWS Neptune; 20) Data lake management systems: AWS EMR, Cloudera Data Platform, Google Cloud Dataproc, HPE MapR, Microsoft HDInsight; 21) In-memory shared data managers (unstructured): Oracle Coherence, Red Hat JBoss Data Grid, Pivotal GemFire

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lifecycle Platforms (automated data intelligence): 22) Data labeling: AWS SageMaker Ground Truth, Appen Figure Eight, CloudFactory; 23) AI build: IBM Watson Studio, Microsoft Azure Machine Learning, AWS SageMaker Studio, SAS Viya Suite; 24) Machine learning operations: AWS SageMaker Neo and Model Monitor, DataRobot MLOps, HPE Ezmeral MLOps; 25) Trustworthy AI: IBM Watson OpenScale, Google XAI, Fiddler Labs

Text and Media Platforms (data interpretation and extraction): 26) Text and audio AI: IBM Watson Assistant, Oracle Digital Assistant, IPSoft Amelia; 27) Image and video AI: IBM Watson Visual Recognition, AWS Amazon Rekognition, Microsoft Computer Vision; 28) Document understanding AI: Google Document AI, Microsoft SharePoint Syntex, AWS Amazon Textract; 29) Intelligent knowledge discovery applications: Lucidworks Fusion Platform, Coveo Platform, AWS Kendra, IBM Watson Discovery

Business Applications (operating system of a data center): 30) to 49)

Enterprise Resource Management (core system resource manager): 30) Financial applications: Oracle Financial Cloud, SAP Financial Accounting, Intuit QuickBooks Online; 31) Payroll management: Oracle Payroll, Workday Payroll, Ultimate Software UltiPro; 32) Procurement: Oracle Procurement Suite, SAP Ariba Procurement, Fieldglass; 33) Order management: IBM Watson Order Optimizer, Oracle Management Cloud; 34) Enterprise performance management: IBM Cognos Controller, Oracle EPM Cloud, SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning; 35) Project and portfolio management: Microsoft Project Professional, SAP Enterprise Project, Portfolio Management; 36) Enterprise asset management: SAP Enterprise Asset Management, Oracle Maintenance Cloud

Human Resources / Human Capital Management (personnel allocation and management system): 37) HCM applications: Oracle NetSuite HCM and HCM Cloud, SAP SuccessFactors, Ultimate Software UltiPro, Workday HCM

Supply Chain Management (logistics and resource distribution manager): 38) Logistics: Manhattan Active Supply Chain, JDA Transportation and Logistics Management; 39) Production planning: Oracle Advanced Planning Command Center, SAP Supply Chain Planning and Collaboration; 40) Inventory management: SAP SCM Warehouse Management, JDA RedPrairie Warehouse Management

Customer Relationship Management (customer interaction interface): 41) Sales force productivity and management applications: Salesforce Sales Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales; 42) Marketing campaign management applications: Adobe Marketing Cloud, HCL Unica, Google Analytics 360, Salesforce Marketing Cloud; 43) Customer service applications: Amdocs Customer Engagement, Salesforce Service Cloud, Oracle CX Service Cloud; 44) Contact center applications: Avaya Cloud Contact Center, Five9 Cloud Contact Center; 45) Advertising applications: Adobe Advertising Cloud, Salesforce DMP, Sprinklr Platform; 46) Digital commerce applications: Adobe Magento Commerce Cloud, Digital River Global Commerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud

Industry / Company Specific Business Applications (custom extensions and plugins): 47) Production and grid management applications: Aspen Technology PIMS, Dassault DELMIA, and ABB Ability Network Manager ADMS; 48) Service industry and public sector operations applications: Cerner Millennium, FICO Decision Management Suite, FIS Integrated financial Solutions; 49) Other operations applications: Epicor Retail Software Systems, Oracle Retail Merchandise Operations Management

Email / Collaborative and Content Applications (communication protocols and data sharing): 50) to 63)

Enterprise Email Collaborative Applications and Social Platforms (core communication protocols): 50) Conferencing applications: Web conferencing: Zoom, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Team Meetings | Virtual event: Cisco Webex Events, LogMeIn GoToWebinar, Zoom Video Webinars; 51) Email applications: Google Workspace, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft Outlook; 52) Enterprise community applications: Aurea Jive, Facebook Workplace, Microsoft Yammer; 53) Team collaboration applications (TCAs): Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex

Content Applications (content management systems and data sharing): 54) Capture applications: IBM Datacap, OpenText Intelligent Capture; 55) Content sharing and collaboration applications: Box Business, Dropbox Business, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive; 56) Creative applications: Adobe XD, InDesign, Photoshop Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, Corel PaintShop Pro, CorelDRAW; 57) Document applications: Microsoft Office 365 applications and Visio, Google Docs, Adobe FrameMaker and AEM Forms, Open Text LiquidOffice, SurveyMonkey, DocuSign; 58) eDiscovery applications: RelativityOne, OpenText Catalyst and EnCase eDiscovery, Exterro Platform; 59) ECM software: IBM FileNet, Microsoft SharePoint, OpenText Content Suite Platform; 60) Enterprise portals: IBM WebSphere Portal, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Oracle WebCenter Suite, SAP NetWeaver Portal; 61) Persuasive content management: Adobe, OpenText, inRiver, AWS, Brightcove

Content Delivery (data delivery channels and optimized sharing): 62) B2B: storing, sharing, and processing web requests; 63) B2C: storing, sharing, and processing requests for news content

Infrastructure (the backbone of data flow): 64) to 70)

Infrastructure (the physical and virtual support structure): 64) Endpoint management - Output and Client endpoint: Device management: HP Web Jetadmin | Print management: Pharos Blueprint, YSoft SafeQ | Enterprise output management: Ricoh InfoPrint Manager, HP Output Server | Unified endpoint management: IBM MaaS360, Jamf | IoT device management: AWS IoT Device Management, Nokia IMPACT Platform | PC life-cycle management: Microsoft Endpoint Manager/Configuration Manager, SolarWinds RMM; 65) Storage software: Data replication and protection: Veritas NetBackup, CommVault Data Platform, VMware vSphere Replication | Archiving: Veritas Enterprise Vault, Dell Technologies SourceOne Data Protection | Storage and device management: HPE Operations Manager, NetApp OnCommand System Manager | Storage infrastructure: Dell Technologies PowerPath, Microsoft Azure StorSimple | Software-defined storage controller: Red Hat Gluster Storage and IBM Cleversafe; 66) System and service management: IT operations management: Splunk Enterprise and Microsoft Azure Monitor | IT automation and configuration management: IBM System Automation, HPE OneSphere | IT service management: IBM Service Management Suite, ServiceNow IT Service Management

Network and Security (the data highway and security protocols): 67) Network infrastructure: Citrix ADC, VMware NSX; 68) Network management: SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor, Broadcom CA Performance Management; 69) Security: Identity and digital trust: Oracle Identity Manager, RSA SecuriID Suite | Endpoint security: McAfee Endpoint Security, Kaspersky Integrated Endpoint Security | Network security: Cisco Cloud Web Security SaaS, McAfee Web Protection | Cyberecurity analytics, intelligence, response, and orchestration: IBM Cloud Pak for Security and Micro Focus ArcSight Enterprise Security Manager | Other security: RSA BSAFE, Thales SafeNet Data Secure

Client Computing (the endpoints of data interaction): 70) Client computing: Citrix Virtual Apps, Citrix Virtual Desktops, Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop, VMware Horizon Cloud and Fusion

Digital Services (real-time data interaction): 71) to 75)

Consumer-oriented Digital Services (interactive platforms for end-users): 71) Social networking: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter; 72) Digital entertainment and streaming: YouTube, Netflix, Disney+; 73) Consumer email and collaboration: Gmail, Yahoo! Mail; 74) Cloud storage: Apple iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, Box; 75) eCommerce: eBay, Amazon, Walmart

Application Development and Testing (building and refining the data system): 76) to 93)

Development Tools and Applications (construction tools for building a data system): 76) Development languages, environments, and tools: IBM WebSphere Studio Developer, Microsoft Visual Studio.Net; 77) Software construction components: GrapeCity ComponentOne Studio, Developer Express DXperience; 78) Business rules and management systems: FICO Blaze Advisor, IBM ILOG Jrules; 79) Modeling and architecture tools: Software AG ARIS, MEGA International HOPEX; 80) Automated software quality tools: IBM Rational Test Workbench, SonarSource SonarQube; 81) Software change, configuration, and process management: GitLab, Microsoft Git Hub; 82) Deployment-centric applications platforms: IBM WebSphere Application Server, Oracle WebLogic Suite; 83) Model-driven application platforms: IBM Business Process Manager, Quickbase Platform; 84) Transaction processing monitors: IBM CICS, Oracle Tuxedo; 85) Robotic process automation: Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Infosys AssistEdge; 86) Business-to-business middleware: IBM B2B Integrator, Informatica B2B Data Exchange, IBM B2B Integrator; 87) Integration software: IBM API Connect, Microsoft Azure API Management, SAP Cloud Platform, API Management, Oracle Integration Cloud; 88) Event stream processing software: Microsoft Azure Event Hubs, Amazon Kinesis SAS ESP; 89) Managed file transfer: IBM Control Center, SWIFT File Act; 90) Database administration (DBA): BMC Data Management, Quest Software Toad; 91) Database replication: Quest Software SharePlex, Oracle GoldenGate, SAP Replication Server; 92) Data modelling: IBM InfoSphere Data Architect, Erwin Data Modeler, IDERA E/R Studio; 93) Database development and optimization: Quest Software Toad, IDERA Database Development Solutions

Technical Applications (specialized data processing systems): 94) to 98)

Engineering Technical Applications (precision tools for specialized data processing): 94) Computer-aided design (CAD): Autodesk AutoCAD, PTC Creo; 95) Computer-aided engineering (CAE): Autodesk Moldflow, Siemens Simcenter; 96) Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM): Siemens NX CAM, Hexagon EdgeCAM and Machining Strategist; 97) Collaborative product data management (cPDM): Oracle Agile Software, Siemens PLM Teamcenter; 98) Other engineering applications: Synopsis EDA applications, Cadence EDA applications

Workloads are the backbone of digital transformation, seamlessly balancing compute, storage, and networking to turn raw data into actionable insights. The 98 workload groups power innovation, efficiency, and competitive advantage. In a data-driven world, mastering workload strategy isn’t just important - it’s the key to thriving in the future.