IBM gets the patent for a means of combining Big Data gathered from the cloud with that stored on local IT systems, thus promising enterprises will be able to more effectively market and serve customers.
The cloud-based invention is called "Dynamically Optimized Distributed Cloud Computing-based Business Process Management (BPM) System (US Patent #8504400, patent fans). As Big Blue puts it, it "provides a method for developing a new breed of enterprise applications that seamlessly combine locally-stored data from business process across an enterprise with cloud-based Big Data."
An example IBM gives involves a retailer checking in-house sales records for customer habit analysis while combining data from online ratings and reviews before the creation of personalised coupons, offers and promotion across a variety of sales channels.
“Combining business processes and data from cloud services with information stored on-site will allow business leaders to optimize their operations, particularly during times of peak performance,” IBM says. “Our patented technique removes barriers and challenges that are inhibiting companies of all sizes from accessing all of the cloud infrastructure and services they need to get the job done.”