More time is needed to understand the impact of the advent of mobile devices and tools in corporate business. Talking with members of the press during the IBM Forum held August 15-16 in São Paulo, the new IBM Brazil president, Rodrigo Kede, said the company has worked in the back office to enable mobility for end users.
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“We are not on the front end. Actually, we are all trying to understand how mobility and social networking will change people’s lives,” he said. Kede did not answer RCR Wireless News’ question about IBM’s rumored interest in acquiring RIM’s enterprise services unit, which is considered to be the company’s most valuable asset. “Regarding mobility, IBM works on the technology level,” he said.
It is important to highlight that IBM has acquired new assets in the past, aiming to boost its mobile work. In May, IBM unveiled Mobile Foundation, a portfolio of products and services designed to help organizations capitalize on the proliferation of mobile environments. Aimed at solutions for laptops, smartphones and tablets, the new offering follows IBM’s acquisition of Worklight and targets a $22-billion-market that is expected to grow to $36 billion by 2015.
In February, IBM announced a definitive agreement to acquire the privately-held, Israeli-based Worklight, a provider of mobile software for smartphones and tablets. The move was targeted at expanding IBMs operations in mobile application development, integration, security and management.
The Worklight deal was part of IBM’s larger strategy to offer its customers a complete set of software and services they need to bring mobile devices into business infrastructure, which includes build and connect mobile applications; and manage and secure mobile devices; as well as extending existing capabilities to capitalize on new business opportunities. Currently, IBM runs verticals of mobility and wireless services, mobile software for collaboration and mobile enterprise.
In looking for future growth, IBM has addressed its strategy to four key areas: geographic expansion, innovation (comprising a so-called smart-planet strategy), cloud computing, and business analytics and optimization.
The new president has a very challenging job ahead. Brazil is part of IBM’s Growth Market Unit (GMU) which includes 152 emerging countries led by China. The GMU is expected to represent 30% of the company’s revenues by 2015, an increase of 5 percentage points from IBM’s initial prediction of 25%.
