IBM 2004 Annual Report Download - page 16

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION
International Business Machines Corporation and Subsidiary Companies
14
ibm annual report 2004
Business Value
The company helps its clients transform their businesses and gain competitive advantage
by applying its skills and experience to business performance challenges specific to the
client’s industry or across industries and processes. The company enters into long-term
relationships and creates solutions for clients, driving on demand business innovation, on its
own or in partnership with other companies. The company draws upon its broad product
and service offerings, including Business Consulting Services, IBM Research, industry-leading
middleware, and its deep experience in systems and technology design.
CAPABILITIES
Business Consulting Services (BCS). Delivery of value to clients through consulting services
for client relationship management, financial management, human capital, business strategy
and change, and supply chain management, as well as application innovation and the trans-
formation of business processes and operations. (Global Services)
Business Performance Management (BPM). Enables companies to visualize end-to-end
processes across business and IT systems, analyze execution in real time against goals, and
make adjustments as needed. IBM offers consulting, services and middleware to simulate
and monitor business processes, and provides customers with real-time analysis of the
underlying IT systems carrying out those processes. (Software)
Business Transformation Outsourcing (BTO). Delivers improved business results to clients
through the continual strategic change and the operation and transformation of the client’s
business processes, applications and infrastructure. (Global Services)
Center for Business Optimization (CBO). Helps clients continually optimize their business
performance by drawing upon massive amounts of real-time data, advanced analytical
methods, business expertise and deep computing power. (Global Services)
Customer Financing. Lease and loan financing to external and internal clients for terms gen-
erally between two and five years. (Global Financing)
Engineering & Technology Services (E&TS). System and component design services, strate-
gic outsourcing of clients’ design teams, and technology and manufacturing consulting
services. (Systems and Technology Group)
On Demand Innovation Services (ODIS). IBM Research scientists work with BCS consultants
to analyze and solve clients’ most intractable business challenges. ODIS offers a number of
cross-industry micropractices with deep expertise including mobile enablement and infor-
mation mining. (Global Services and IBM Research)
Software and services to meet industry-specific needs. Solutions and applications built on an
on demand, standards-based infrastructure to transform a process that is unique to specific
industries. (Multiple IBM segments)
Business Performance Transformation Services (BPTS). Helps clients transform their spend-
ing on business processes, namely Selling, General and Administrative and Research and
Development. BPTS requires advanced technology and deep expertise in industry and/or
specific functions like Human Resources (HR), logistics, payroll, sales, customer services and
procurement, to result in holistic improvement for the performance and success of a busi-
ness, including efficiency of individual processes and their combined effort. BPTS solutions
are delivered to clients by several of the company’s business areas: BTO,E&TS, Strategy and
Change Consulting and BPM. (Multiple IBM segments)
Infrastructure Value
Infrastructure Value includes systems, such as high-volume servers; middleware software
that can interconnect disparate operating systems and applications with data; storage
networks; and devices. It also refers to such services as infrastructure management—
whether on the client’s premises or managed remotely at IBM’s own facilities —and consult-
ing about how to improve and strengthen the infrastructure and realize greater return on
investment in it. Central to IBM’s approach for building value in the infrastructure category
is its support of open standards and its active promotion of Linux and other open source
platforms, which help IBM’s clients control costs and allow them to benefit from the latest
advances created by development communities around the world. IBM’s strategic objective
is to deliver open and integrated offerings and expand partnerships.
CAPABILITIES
Application Management Services. Application development, management, maintenance
and support services for packaged software, as well as custom and legacy applications.
(Global Services)
Commercial financing. Short-term inventory and accounts receivable financing to dealers
and remarketers of IT products. (Global Financing)
DB2 information management software. Advanced database and content management soft-
ware solutions that enable clients to leverage information on demand. (Software)
e-business Hosting Services. Solutions for the management of clients’ Web-based infrastruc-
ture and business applications, as well as a growing portfolio of industry-specific independ-
ent software vendor (ISV) solutions that are delivered as a service. (Global Services)
Integrated Technology Services (ITS). Design, implementation and maintenance of clients’
technology infrastructures. (Global Services)
Lotus software. Collaboration and messaging software that allows a company’s employees,
clients, vendors and partners to engage in real-time and asynchronous communication and
knowledge management. (Software)
Personal computers. Notebook and desktop computers featuring ThinkVantage Technolo-
gies that provide enterprises and end users with increased productivity and cost-effectiveness.
(Personal Systems Group)
Printing Systems. Production print solutions, on demand print-related solutions, enterprise
workgroup print technologies, and print management software and services. (Personal
Systems Group)
Rational software. Integrated tools designed to improve an organization’s software devel-
opment processes and capabilities. (Software)
Remarketing. The sale and lease of used equipment (primarily sourced from the conclusion
of lease transactions) to new or existing clients. (Global Financing)
Retail Store Solutions. Point-of-sale retail checkout equipment, software and solutions.
(Personal Systems Group)
Servers. IBM eServer systems using IBM operating systems (zSeries and iSeries), as well as
AIX, the IBM UNIX operating system (pSeries) and the Microsoft Windows operating system
(xSeries). All servers can also run Linux, a key open source operating system. (Systems and
Technology Group and Software)