New IBM Global Engineering Solutions (IBM GES) unit opens up new business arenas for IBM and aims to develop world-changing technology.
What is IBM GES and where does it fit?
Operating under the Systems and Technology Group (STG), the new GES unit is IBM’s industry-unique response to ongoing shifts in our clients’ markets. Clients are increasingly finding that traditional business methods are less effective at delivering competitive advantage in their respective markets. Today our clients are looking towards innovation to generate their revenue growth. However, most do not possess the technological, financial or intellectual resources to innovate effectively on their own. IBM’s new GES unit offers clients an irresistible solution to this problem.
IBM GES represents the seamless combination of the Microelectronics Division, Engineering and Technology Services, and High Performance Computing. The new unit will open up all of these products and services to our clients, through the principle of collaborative innovation.
With IBM’s Research and Development labs currently accumulating patents at a rate of nearly three thousand a year, this is an unprecedented opportunity for clients. Under General Manager Adalio Sanchez, an initial core team of IBM GES experts will implement fundamental changes to clients’ business models to shift their competitive strategies to focus on technological innovation.
Why will clients collaborate with IBM?
Firstly, our competitors simply cannot match the breadth of services offered by the IBM GES unit. Secondly, IBM GES supports client innovation from concept through to delivery. This ability to drive client’s innovation-based products all the way to the marketplace is unique to IBM. For these two key reasons Simon Porter, VP IBM GES Northeast Europe, believes IBM will become the first choice for technological collaboration.
How does IBM benefit?
Whilst collaborative innovation promises impressive results for clients, Simon Porter is convinced of even greater prosperity for IBM. GES already exists globally, but its specific conception in our geography represents a critical development in its overall business significance. He sees IBM GES as a completely new opportunity for the company to expand further than our traditional IT space. Indeed, IBM GES will enable clients to leverage IBM technology in product and service innovation. Equally the unit will allow IBM to grow its influence in new market sectors. The IBM GES strategy is also predicted to initiate significant ‘pull-along’ growth for the more traditional areas of the IBM business.
Collaborative success for all industries
The new IBM GES unit has the ability to deliver solutions for an extensive and diverse variety of industries. The examples which follow represent merely the beginning of what the IBM GES unit could achieve.
A significant automobile parts company has already seen the potential of collaborative innovation with IBM. We have supported their expansion in the vehicle electronics sector, and this partnership may deliver ideas and products like intelligent headlights, embedded safety sensors with automatic responses to hazards, or integrated dashboard information and entertainment systems.
In the consumer electronics industry, the Sony/IBM/Toshiba (SIT) Cell platform has been collaboratively designed for the upcoming PlayStation 3. One of IBM GES’ main aims is to diversify the application of the Cell technology into other sectors – already we have seen the development of the Cell-based BladeCenter. Adalio Sanchez aims to use the collaborative technology of Cell to establish IBM technology as the industry standard in the consumer electronics sector. Through client-directed innovation IBM’s market influence can be both deepened and broadened.
What follows IS exciting
The arrival of IBM GES in Northeast Europe is an extremely exciting development for the business. In the medical sector, collaboration with Saint Jude Hospital aims to deliver a Ruggedized ThinkPad with a six second boot time. Similarly, collaboration with the Mayo Clinic intends to develop new medical treatment devices.
In the transport industry, IBM GES works to offer clients new innovative solutions for transport container security and tracking. This would form part of IBM’s Secure Trade Lane (STL) concept, using GPS to send information to a database for real-time tracking.
In the scientific and academic sectors, collaboration with Astron plans to deliver a Blue Gene-based radio telescope to provide previously unseen detail on the universe. No matter what the industry sector, IBM GES can offer a solution.
At IBM Innovation that matters is a principal cultural message and it is equally fundamental to the IBM GES strategy. As the examples illustrate, IBM GES has the potential to impact far beyond business and technology. Sam Palmisano, IBM Chairman of the Board of Directors, recently noted that, ‘innovation is a societal – not a technical – phenomenon that arises at the intersection of invention and insight’. IBM GES sits firmly at this intersection, perfectly placed to take advantage of the market opportunities created by collaborative innovation.
For further information on Technology Collaboration Solutions, contact Simon Porter, Vice President - Global Engineering Solutions, Northeast Europe, simonl_porter@uk.ibm.com |