Collaborative Relationships Drive Innovation in Open Source, Emerging Markets
LAS VEGAS, NV – 14 Mar 2006: IBM today announced that leading analyst firm IDC has named the company a leader in “best practices” for independent software vendor (ISV) and developer programs. The independent reports acknowledge IBM’s ongoing investment to develop these programs.
IDC’s “Competitive Analysis of Worldwide Independent Software Programs,” states that IBM’s ISV program is a market leader that provides the benchmarks and best practices other vendors emulate when updating their programs. While offerings and initiatives can be copied, it is difficult for other vendors to match IBM’s ability to create effective virtual teams.
According to the ISV report, IBM’s efforts with the venture capital (VC) community to identify the best VC-backed start-up companies was highlighted as a way for the company to capture the explosive growth of innovation in emerging markets, promote adoption of open standards, and expand IBM’s relationships.
IDC also indicated that IBM’s corporate “personality” and investment strategies have created a very mature and extensive ISV program that is difficult for others to reproduce. In addition, the report states that IBM believes its commitment to open standards, vertical market focus, technical enablement, and sales and marketing offerings, and the fact it doesn’t directly compete with ISVs, carries significant weight with this partner community.
“Over the years IBM has made significant investments in its programs targeting the ISV and developer communities,” said Stephen Graham, Group Vice President of Software Business Strategies, IDC. “The company’s continued commitment to these communities through their relative mature programs is reflected in the leadership position achieved in both reports.”
In a separate report, IDC’s “Worldwide Developer Programs 2006” positioned IBM as a leader in its efforts with the developer community. According to this report, IBM’s focus on emerging markets and open source technologies will result in even higher levels of developer participation in the coming year.
As outlined in the report, IBM offers a number of online communities for developers. These include IBM developerWorks (a technical resource that provides a range of tools, code, and education on IBM products and open standards technology), alphaWorks (emerging technologies), and the IBM Academic Initiative (for faculty and researchers at higher education institutions). In addition, IBM holds technical briefings and events around the world for developers.
“IBM has developed an incredible network of innovative organizations and individuals that is changing the information technology landscape,” said Buell Duncan, general manager, ISV and Developer Relations, IBM. “By providing technical, sales, and marketing resources to this community, we’re helping to stimulate breakthrough ideas in nearly every industry and geography around the world.”
Additional highlights on IBM’s programs include:
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IBM’s VC initiatives resulted in the development of more than 900 new relationships over an 18-month time frame.
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IBM’s developerWorks has served over 5 million registered developers worldwide and the company experienced high membership growth in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, with approximately 500 new registrations a day in 2005.
About IBM
IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key IBM Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of On Demand Business. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.
