IBM Technology Services: 20 Reasons Why It’s No. 1

by Darryl K. Taft

In 2009, IBMs GTS division reported revenue of $37.3 billion.

GTS primarily provides IT infrastructure services and business process services, delivering business value through the companys global scale, standardization and automation. GTS capabilities include strategic outsourcing services, business transformation outsourcing, integrated technology services and maintenance. The divisions outsourcing businesses are supported by two integrated worldwide delivery organizations: integrated technology delivery and business process delivery.

In addition to GTS, the other services segment is IBM GBS, the professional services arm of Global Services. The world’s largest IT consultancy services organization, GBS includes strategic management consulting, industry expertise, business analytics and optimization, systems integration, and application management services.

Collectively, IBM’s services divisions—including technology services and business services—represented 42 percent of IBM’s total revenue in 2009.

IBM was ranked the top service provider for 2010 by Forrester Research, which projected that the company will maintain its position through 2020.

IBM is the world’s largest outsourcing services provider, with more than 1,000 clients from around the globe.

The 2002 acquisition of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting brought IBM new insight into client business issues and new market opportunities. Some notable recent acquisitions include: Internet Security Systems (August 2006); Softek (January 2007); Serbian Business Systems (April 2007); NovusCG (October 2007); Arsenal Digital Solutions (December 2007); and National Interest Security Company (2010).

IBM partners with the world’s leading organizations to solve fundamental business problems and transform business models through technology. Over the last few months, IBM announced new deals with Hilton Worldwide, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and ElectraCard Services (India), among others.

With more than 40 years of global experience in the business continuity arena and more than 155 business resilience centers worldwide, IBM has deep industry-specific knowledge and a broad range of major clients and leading services.

GTS Services Delivery is responsible for delivering IBM’s IT and business process outsourcing services. The strategy to drive quality and productivity in GTS Services Delivery is achieved through standardization, automation and global integration.

IBM operates an extensive network of service delivery centers in more than 20 countries—with multiple sites in many of those countries. The centers provide IT services and business process outsourcing capabilities to IBM clients around the world.

IBM GTS plays an integral role in the company’s cloud strategy, and delivers services for the assessment, consulting, design and implementation of clouds. Many of the company’s cloud offerings are hosted from IT delivery centers.

Frost & Sullivan recently named IBM the North American market leader for managed security services for its ability to maintain the most market share among managed security service providers.

IBM has six worldwide research labs focused on innovation in security technology and nine global security operations centers to monitor for the latest threats and protect clients. IBM is also the only technology provider with more than 40 years of security development and innovation.

IBM’s technology services division applies the knowledge from the company’s research arm—which includes eight global locations—to the practical development of technology services and cloud computing. One example includes a recently opened technology services delivery center in Dubuque, Iowa, as part of IBM’s Smarter Cities project.

Through a first-of-a-kind project, IBM Research and NASCO are teaming to make health care smarter. The companies will explore the application of leading-edge research to develop tools that will spur the modernization of today’s health care claims systems and enable automation of the processes for setting up new customers.

In one of the largest services agreements in the history of the health care industry, Kaiser Permanente tapped IBM to deploy smart systems and activate its highly sophisticated global delivery network to provide patients, members and physicians real-time access to medical data and tools whenever and wherever they need it.

IBM owns and operates more than 8 million square feet of data center space — more than any other company in the world.

IBM’s data center approach can easily and efficiently be expanded to handle additional computing capacity (via more servers, power and cooling systems) as needed using the same simple, “plug and play” approach that all computer users are accustomed to. It’s just like popping in memory to a laptop. The new design approach is paying off for clients, helping them reduce data center energy costs by up to 50 percent.

IBM was the first IT services organization to launch a service line dedicated to business analytics and optimization, allocating more than 6,000 consultants with industry expertise, as well as launching seven global analytic solutions centers in 2009.