IBM sets up global hub in India

By agencies   |   Monday, 20 March 2006, 20:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
Bangalore: IBM has established a global hub in Bangalore, for the management and creation of replicable components based on SOA (service oriented architecture). These replicable components will increase the speed of delivery of services and lower the cost for customers who would otherwise have to buy custom-built components, said Matt Porta, Head of the global business solution program of IBM Business Consulting Services. The Global Business Solutions Center in Bangalore will be in charge of enhancing IBM’s portfolio of replicable components across 17 industries. The company already has about 50 such components across those industries. The company plans to invest $200 million a year to develop and market replicable components. SOA is enabling IBM to go a lot further in building replicable components than it could before, Porta said. IBM can now create code for a business process that can be reused with business applications from various vendors and for multiple clients, he added. Until the hub was set up, the creation of replicable components was dispersed across various locations. “We decided that if we were going to get serious we needed a global hub to manage all this,” says Porta. The center will work with about 60,000 IBM consultants and other resources worldwide on the conceptualization, development, maintenance and enhancement of the components, said Jeby Cherian, Head of the center. The ideas for new replicable components will typically come from clients and field staff. IBM solutions boards will evaluate suggestions and after their approval the management of component development will be handed over to the Global Business Solutions Center, Porta said. Besides using staff at IBM’s global services delivery centers in India, the center will also work with staff at other locations. India is the largest of three IBM hubs for services to customers worldwide. The other two are in Brazil and China.