IBM brochure - 2016

Project Partners

Transforming technology

Transforming technology Written by Nye Longman Produced by Danielle Harris

KEEN TO EVOLVE WITH THE INDUSTRIES IT SERVES, IBM IS SHIFTING TOWARDS BECOMING THE WORLD’S LEADING CLOUD PLATFORM PROVIDER WHILE INVESTING IN ITS STRENGTHS

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BM has been at the forefront of innovation for over a century; its creations have consistently transformed how businesses and society at large interacts. Far from resting on its laurels, the company has embarked on transforming its products and services in line with the needs of its UK customers, as well as the global market.

Business Review Europe speaks to Andy Brierley, IBM’s Vice President of Global Technology Services, about how the company is building on its already very strong hardware and software offerings with a shift towards cognitive solutions and cloud-based platforms. We also explore how the rest of the company’s divisions are contributing to its long term transformation and prosperity.

OPERATIONS AND INNOVATION IBM’s vast portfolio covers everything from data technologies supporting cognitive commerce, through to analytics, mobile technology, security solutions and cloud platforms. This portfolio is constantly be strengthened through investments in

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TECHNOLOGY

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All the expertise in the world can count for nothing if your thinking isn’t aligned from the very beginning...

Act as one.

When you’re undertaking large-scale, mission-critical projects like digital transformation, you need to have total confidence that all parties involved communicate well. But much more than that – you need them to understand the same strategy and share the same vision, right from the very start.

IBM and Citrix have a long-standing track record of collaborating successfully to deliver game-changing solutions across such areas as enterprise mobility, cloud, virtualization, security and networking.

We keep our joint focus sharp and on target, working together from project conception right through to final outcomes, to drive innovation and ensure that whatever the task at hand, you benefit from our joined-up thinking. www.Act-As-One.co.uk

“Our companies share a joint approach and technology roadmaps, access to technologies for end-to-end testing and a strong track record with mutual clients. Together, we provide the right services and technology to assess and plan, design, implement and manage a more cost-effective, centralized and virtualized desktop environment.”

Don Fitzpatrick, General Manager, IBM Global Networking Alliances

WITH A GREATER VANTAGE POINT, A GREATER ADVANTAGE.

Zebra gives you the big picture. In today’s data-centric world, real-time information is crucial for your business. And with hardware, talking to software, talking to the cloud, only Zebra’s intelligent, enterprise-level solutions give you the connectivity and unmatched visibility you need to manufacture success.

See the vision at ZEBRA.com/visibility ©2016 ZIH Corp and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Zebra and the stylized Zebra head are trademarks of ZIH Corp, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

new opportunity areas like Watson value for their organisations.”

Health, Watson Internet of Things “That involves IBM delivering and hybrid cloud, and through projects such as large hybrid cloud a broad ecosystem of strategic deals, taking costs out of our alliances and partnerships. clients’ organisations through IT The company also offers industryconsolidation, IT rationalisation and, specific expertise to a number of in some cases, taking over clients’ sectors, including banking, retail, IT infrastructure, transforming it, telecommunications and various and then running it on behalf of the public sector and government client for several years.” institutions. Underpinning He also explains that its market-leading a number of shrewd products, services, and acquisitions made solutions are a range in recent years of customer support have enabled functions from direct the company to Number of customer hotlines and offer a very strong employees education tools to online cloud platform to at IBM support communities. businesses – a key “I look after IBM Global aspect of the business Technology Services sales for the that IBM is looking to grow in the UK and Ireland and in particular our future. Brierley says: “Some of our very largest size deals by value” says clients will be moving 100 percent Brierley, “so my focus is primarily on of their IT function from their current making sure that we drive the sales insolvent state, located in a data that we need. We do this by creating centre somewhere in the UK, into value propositions that will address a managed cloud environment. our clients’ business challenges “This gives variability, flexibility, and therefore drive increased and better price point function – and

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we’re doing these migrations for a lot of customers. This highlights that the investments we’ve made, the skills that we have, and the level of automation we are capable of deploying, are some of our strongest attributes we can apply when delivering compelling solutions for our clients.

“My team is talking to clients about how we can reinvent their businesses, change their cost profile and make them far more agile by using some of the strategic investments that we’ve made. Along with our products and key partnerships and alliances which are so important to us, in many different industries and specialist areas - we integrate it all together to provide a serviceintegrated approach for our clients.”

The structure and organisation of his teams are aligned according to each industry in order to have an unmatched level of specialisation and deep industry knowledge. “I’ve got one part of the team that’s focused on financial services,” Brierley adds. “I’ve got another part of my team that’s focused on the public

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“All the investment we’re making in cognit analytics, big data, a quantum computing eventually wrap itself a service form and le it to clients effective and efficiently”

ts itive, and will into ead ely

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Juniper helps you build more than a network.

Build the future.

Juniper Networks challenges the status quo with innovative products, solutions and services critical to businesses by transforming the economics of networking in the cloud and cognitive business world. We create highly scalable, secure and cost-effective networks for unprecedented agility, efďŹ ciency and value.

www.juniper.net

It is well known that IBM invests billions of dollars each year in R&D, but one overlooked aspect of this process is how the company is able to seamlessly integrate and roll out these innovations into the wider global business sector and I’ve got one focused on the majority of the other industries.

Beneath the leadership team, there are individual experts in each industry such as media and entertainment, telecommunications and utilities.”

It is well known that IBM invests billions of dollars each year in R&D, but one overlooked aspect of this process is how the company is able to seamlessly integrate and roll out these innovations into the wider global business. “All the investments we’re making in cognitive, analytics, big data, and quantum computing will eventually wrap itself into a service form and lead it to clients effectively and efficiently,” Brierley says.

“That continuous program of over 100 years of reinventing itself has enabled IBM to refresh both the messages to our clients and the

solutions and services we offer them.

It’s at the heart of everything we do.”

TALENT MANAGEMENT Five Nobel Prize Laureates have worked for IBM through the course of its long history, which gives no small indication of the sort of talent its operations attract and demand. The company retains an enviable portion of the top technology and sales talent available anywhere.

“I’ve spoken to a number of CIOs at a variety of banks who’ve told me they don’t mind paying extra for IBM’s staff because we bring talent that no one else has available to offer,” Brierley explains.

“The quality of the talent and the experience in the individuals that we’ve got and their ability to create and bring value to clients, is one of our major competitive strengths.”

It almost goes without saying

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WHEREVER YOU GO YOUR DATA IS READY. WELCOME TO DATA FABRIC Manage your data seamlessly across any environment and move it to where you need it most. The future of data management is here.

Š 2016 NetApp, Inc. All rights reserved. No portions of this document may be reproduced without prior written consent of NetApp, Inc. NetApp and the NetApp logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.

Leading organisations worldwide count on IBM Global Technology Services and NetApp for software, systems and services to manage and store their data in the Hybrid Cloud. Customers value our teamwork, expertise and passion for helping them succeed now and into the future. To learn more, visit www.netapp.com/uk

that IBM’s training and selection processes are rigorous. For Brierley’s team, which is responsible for hundreds of millions of pounds in sales annually, the criteria – and the rewards – are higher still.

“We have a very structured set of courses,” he says. “Starting off when our foundation graduates or apprentices arrive - that literally lasts from cradle to grave for the employees as they come on board.”

IBM’s incentive package is designed to ensure that a great deal is reached for all involved, for mutual long-term success: “We lead and motivate our salespeople to do good business – and good business is not just that they sold a very nice deal, it is something that is good for IBM and good for the client. We do retention on commission for a period of time to make sure what we sold for the

client is deliverable and the client is happy with what we’re delivering.”

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE “I think we’ll continue on the journey of driving our solutions to be cognitive,” Brierley muses. “All our platforms will become cloud. All our focus will be on industries - I don’t see that changing. I think we’ll become more and more an organisation that drives all our products, our software, our hardware - as a service for clients.”

“We have reached that point and we’re on the right trajectory.

Certainly, if I look at the quality of our opportunities and some of the conversations we’re having now with clients, it feels like we’re ahead of the market. Indeed, our own analysts are telling me that in the UK and Ireland we have taken market share from our competition in the last few quarters.”

IBM has not faltered in cresting wave after wave of innovation and is aligning itself ever closer to the needs of UK and global businesses and industry segments

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Recovering from a hit to its share price last year, IBM has not faltered in cresting wave after wave of innovation and is aligning itself ever closer to the needs of UK and global businesses and industry segments. By channelling its unique knowledge and skill sets, the company’s move from tech provider to services integrator will be the driving force for at least the next five years, as Brierley concludes: “Technology is still encumbering far too many of our clients and they are struggling to get rid of it. As we transform to a cognitive solutions and cloud platform company the challenges will remain. We’ll just have to continue to come up with new ideas, innovative propositions, more efficient and effective ways of solving business issues, and I’m very confident we’ll continue to do that.”

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IBM United Kingdom Limited PO Box 41 North Harbour Portsmouth Hampshire, PO6 3AU , UK +44 (0) 870 542 6426 www.ibm.com/uk-en/