Communication Solutions

IBM (News - Alert), while accelerating investments in emerging markets, has opened three centers of excellence in China, Mexico and India to provide clients with access to the latest technologies and processes in banking, retail and service management arenas.

 

The emerging markets - or countries - represented 18 percent of IBM's geographic revenue in the second quarter of 2008, and together grew 21 percent as reported. In addition, the Brazil, Russia, India and China subset grew 31 percent in the second quarter and were led by explosive growth in India.

 

"These results demonstrate that IBM has the ability to thrive in emerging markets," said Bruno Di Leo, IBM general manager, growth markets. "Our continued investments give IBM a competitive edge; global reach and scale; and services and products that deliver genuine value to clients wherever they do business."

 

As part of accelerating investments in emerging markets, IBM would establish a branch of its Worldwide Banking Center of Excellence in Shanghai to support China's banking clients and to address their issues in core banking systems and payments.

 

The Banking Center will bring together world-class business and technology experts to design and implement next generation payment and core banking systems for China's leading banks.

 

The new Banking Center of Excellence in China will join an existing global network of IBM banking centers that were established in 2007. The network includes centers at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab in California, operated by the IBM High Performance On Demand Solutions (HiPODS) Lab; the IBM Poughkeepsie Lab in New York; the IBM Software Solutions Lab in Seoul, Korea, Hanoi, Vietnam and Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Together, the centers represent a multi-million dollar investment by IBM as a commitment to help worldwide banking clients become successful.

 

IBM also announced the opening of its first retail innovation center in Latin America, a cross-industry facility designed to help companies enhance the shopping experience for consumers. The center provides clients a place to learn about, create and test in-store retail solutions that can help them build advocacy and loyalty for their brands.

 

At the new retail center, IBM will showcase some of its most advanced, industry-leading, point-of-sale and self-checkout technologies in stores, as well as in the mobile and e-commerce space.

 

The Guadalajara Retail Innovation Center is equipped with a consolidated and experienced team of consultants and professionals specializing in meeting and evaluating client needs to achieve the best solution that allows them to create demand generation and customer strategies.

 

IBM previously announced the opening of the IBM Service Management Center of Excellence in India, which will act as the regional hub for IBM Tivoli service management software and strategy. The center has been designed to develop specialized focus and skills in high value areas such as telecom, security, automation and asset management. This first-of-its-kind center has been established in Pune.

 

The center will be staffed by IBM Service Management experts from around the world and will provide infrastructure and resources for enablement and education; client engagement support to sales team and business partners; and facilities for proof of concept, demos and workshops.