IBM: From Punched Card Machinery to Super Computers : By - Shanker Annaswamy Managing Director, IBM India

How many people today care to know the full form of the acronym IBM. I think nobody really bothers to care. The vendor has been able to create a huge brand aura around it. IBM is also known as Big Blue and nobody can definitely say how the company came to acquire this name and who created it.

In fact, IBM has evolved in many phases starting from 1888 when it was founded at Broome Country, New York, till now. In 1888, the company’s objective was to bring out tabulating machines. But, gradually, the company entered into time clocks, typewriters, mainframe computers, supercomputers, minicomputers to microprocessors, software, storage and security.

Long after its inception, in 1924 the company changed its direction to manufacturing computers and since then IBM has never looked back. The growth of IBM has not been as smooth as everybody seems to think. It has definitely been shrouded in controversies. IBM has had to deal with monopolistic allegations from various competitions in the mid-90s.

Today, headquartered in Armonk, New York, USA, the company is one of the few information technology companies, which has operations across 170 countries with 370 thousand employees across the world. Alongside manufacturing and selling computer and storage hardware and software, the company also offers infrastructure services, hosting services and consulting services in various areas.

According to Samuel J. Palmisano, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, IBM Corporation, “The defining value that IBM has provided over the years has been the way we think. Today, as in the past, when people turn to our company, I believe they are looking for how IBMers approach problems, as well as for the types of problems we choose to approach. They seek a kind of relationship, in addition to the outcomes of that relationship. And they are drawn to a set of values that reflect their own.”

Most companies aim to satisfy their customers. Some go farther, dedicating themselves to their clients’ success. Some define success as bringing to the world innovations that make a lasting difference. Some others build trusted, long-term relationships with their owners, employees, partners, neighbours and the world at large.

For nearly a century, IBM has chosen to live at the intersection of these values. This choice has enabled our company to prosper, to create value for our clients and owners, to provide rewarding careers for millions of people, and to be a progressive force in the societies in which we do our work.

IBM is known as the father of PCs and mainframe computers. Till today, any hardware or software gets launched, in the specification, there is a mention of IBM PC compatibility.

IBM is no more known as a product company; it is a solutions company. With various phases of growth, the company has resized itself for solutions. It has either sold the products to other companies or got out of that business. The selling of PC business to China-based Lenovo is the biggest example of that. In the past, IBM has done so several times. For example, it has sold its Printing systems division to Ricoh, TFT manufacturing with Chi Mei to Sony, hard disk operations to Hitachi, etc.

On the other side, the company has also strengthened its solutions portfolio by some major strategic acquisitions, including Lotus Development Corp., Tivoli Systems, Internet Security Systems and now Cognos for Business Intelligence, etc.

Today, the company has completely washed its hands off components and products. Though servers and storage products are still available with the company, the effort is to sell it as solutions. IBM is the first in the industry to bring out the concept of On-demand solutions. It is the first company, which propagated for more adaptability, flexibility and scalability. IBM is probably one of those few companies which very aggressively propagated for Open Source and also landed in trouble in the hands of SCO.

Like other countries, IBM started India operations too early – since 1930, but, unfortunately, because of India’s FERA, law had to close down its operations in 1970. Later on in 1991, the company re-entered the Indian shores with a joint venture with Tata. But, finally in 1997, IBM Global Services was set up. India Research Lab was set up in the IIT–Delhi campus. And, in the subsequent year, IBM bought out Tata’s stake in the company.

Today, IBM India has operations in various heads, including IBM Software Labs (ISL), India Research Lab (IRL), Linux Technology Center, Global Business Solutions (GBS), Global Technology Services (GTS), Global Service Delivery Center (GSDC), Global Business Solutions Center (GBSC), Strategic Outsourcing (SO) and Business Transformation Outsourcing (BTO). This makes IBM India’s third-largest services company India – after TCS, Infosys and Wipro.

IBM in India is present through 14 locations, apart from Bangalore. These cities include New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. As far as products and services are concerned, IBM in India has been competing with its arch rival HP from the beginning. In the PC space where IBM was always changing a number, it had to give up to Lenovo. But, in the server and storage space, IBM has been giving all the competition a tough time.

As already stated, the company has end-to-end solutions in servers, storage, software, etc. In the server space, the company offers all flavours, including the popular Intel- based servers, AMD processor-based servers, Blade servers, Cluster servers, Linux servers, Mainframe servers, IBM proprietary POWER processor-based servers, System i (iSeries) and UNIX servers. Similarly, on the storage space, the company has Disk- based systems Hard drives/micro-drives, Network Attached Storage, Storage Area Networks, Storage software and even Tape systems.

In the software space, the company has database management tools in the information management category, for mail messaging it has Lotus software, IBM Rational software helps customers to manage their software resources effectively. And IBM Tivoli is the industry’s leading technology management solution.

IBM in India is the preferred partner to the major banking, auto manufacturing and telecom sectors. The customers’ base include Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, ING Vysya, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, UTI Bank, YES Bank, Hutchison Telecom (now Vodafone), Zandu Pharmaceuticals, Aviva Life Insurance, HDFC Standard Life Insurance, Sahara India Life Insurance, Birla Sun Life, Titan Industries, BPL-Sanyo, etc.

IBM has a two-pronged strategy. One is to tap the end-customers, understand their requirements and then align with the local ISVs who operate in the same domain and rope in the channel partner for implementation. The other approach is where we work with the business partner specializing in a certain industry vertical and then rope in the ISV to provide a suitable software solution. To facilitate constant coordination and interaction between ISVs and business partners, IBM has recently rolled out an initiative called Power Net Programme under which it has already enrolled 80 ISVs and 45 business partners.

IBM India has always worked towards empowering its business partner representatives with the expertise under INNOVATOR’S INNOVATOR.

IBM believes in collaborating with its partners to grow and evolve. The company is putting in place a whole series of initiatives that facilitate not only the partners working with IBM, but also, very importantly, partners working with partners. And for effective collaboration, IBM has launched the “value net connections”, which is part of the “Partner World” tools for partners. So, there is a place to develop a value net, right from selection of partners to deciding how to develop a solution and how to go to market and generate demand. IBM looks at partners as an ecosystem, and if it is going to be better than any other competitive ecosystem in the industry, then one of the underpinnings is efficiency. Efficiency is going to come as a result of collaboration.

Finally…
According to Shanker Annaswamy, Managing Director, IBM India, “IBM shares the belief that India can unleash its true potential only through making IT available to and usable for large numbers of people.”

IBM’s community initiatives focus on education and children and leverage its expertise in technology to address societal issues. IBM has partnering relationships in India with a number of educational institutions. IBM has also set up an IT Center in Mumbai in association with the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind to impart IT education to visually impaired people. IBM KidSmart Early Learning programme was launched to further strengthen IBM’s commitment to the community in India. This is the only programme in India aimed at introducing technology at the pre-school level in disadvantaged sections of the society to get a headstart on their academic development through the use of age-appropriate software developed by IBM. Tryscience is another community related programme launched, which reinvents science learning, recreates the interactive experience of onsite visits, and provides science projects as well as multimedia adventure field trips for museum visitors, primarily children, their parents and teachers.