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

I
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

4
 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.
“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.”

We keep our joint focus sharp and on target, working Don Fitzpatrick,
together from project conception right through to General Manager, IBM Global
final outcomes, to drive innovation and ensure that Networking Alliances
whatever the task at hand, you benefit from our
joined-up thinking.

www.Act-As-One.co.uk
 WITH A GREATER
VANTAGE POINT,
A GREATER ADVANTAGE.

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new opportunity areas like Watson
Health, Watson Internet of Things
and hybrid cloud, and through
a broad ecosystem of strategic
alliances and partnerships.
The company also offers industry-
specific expertise to a number of
sectors, including banking, retail,
telecommunications and various
public sector and government
institutions. Underpinning
its market-leading
350k
products, services, and
solutions are a range
of customer support
functions from direct Number of
customer hotlines and employees
education tools to online
support communities.
“I look after IBM Global
Technology Services sales for the
UK and Ireland and in particular our
very largest size deals by value” says
Brierley, “so my focus is primarily on
making sure that we drive the sales
that we need. We do this by creating
value propositions that will address
our clients’ business challenges
and therefore drive increased
value for their organisations.”
“That involves IBM delivering
projects such as large hybrid cloud
deals, taking costs out of our
clients’ organisations through IT
consolidation, IT rationalisation and,
in some cases, taking over clients’
IT infrastructure, transforming it,
and then running it on behalf of the
client for several years.”
He also explains that
a number of shrewd
acquisitions made
in recent years
have enabled
the company to
offer a very strong
at IBM cloud platform to
businesses – a key
aspect of the business
that IBM is looking to grow in the
future. Brierley says: “Some of our
clients will be moving 100 percent
of their IT function from their current
insolvent state, located in a data
centre somewhere in the UK, into
a managed cloud environment.
“This gives variability, flexibility,
and better price point function – and
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 “All the investment
we’re doing these migrations for a lot we’re making in cognit
of customers. This highlights that the analytics, big data, a
investments we’ve made, the skills that quantum computing
we have, and the level of automation eventually wrap itself
we are capable of deploying, are a service form and le
some of our strongest attributes
it to clients effective
we can apply when delivering
and efficiently”
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 service-
integrated 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

10
ts
itive,
and
will
into
ead
ely

w w w. i b m . c o m 11
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, efficiency 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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14
w w w. i b m . c o m 15
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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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18
 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/