IBM to go strong on establishing eBiz infrastructure

KUALA LUMPUR: IBM aims to transform organizations from being "islands of

web applications" to integrated e-business providers, and in the process

innovate their business models. To achieve this objective, the company is laying

emphasis on Project eLiza, which aims at making the e-business infrastructure,

storage and software a self-managing system.

The objective of Project eLiza is to have self-healing systems at a time when

the complexity of technology is growing at a fast pace. The aim is to have a

system that can "take a lickin' and keep on tickin'".

Revealing the roadmap that IBM was taking to go strong on e-business

infrastructure, at the 'IBM Insights: E-business Volume 2" briefing, IBM

Malaysia country general manager Voon Seng Chuan said that people have finally

come to understand what IBM was talking about for the last five years that

e-business is not just about content, or dotcoms, or any of a thousands of

"get-rich-quick" schemes.

"E-business is about using technology as a tool to do business in a more

effective way. It is about real business and all of us know that real business

is serious and hard work," said Seng Chuan.

IBM wants to continue to lay stress on open standards that, according to the

company, lead to dynamic e-business. Says CJ Martin, Senior Middleware Manager,

Asia Pacific IBM Software Group, "Non-proprietary software standards create

integrated business processes that allow for dynamic e-business."

According to Martin, the dynamic adaptation of e-business processes and

associated systems directly support the changing business strategies and

tactics. While the early stages of e-business depended on browser-based access

to relatively static information and person-to-system interaction, currently IBM

is working at intelligent transactions on the Web, on totally integrated and

dynamic systems.

Wireless E-business Solutions and Services director Terry Hopkins, speaking

on wireless e-business, said that only a scaleable, reliable, flexible and

secure wireless technology would put e-business infrastructure on a solid

footing. "Wireless e-business is business through any device, any network

and any data," he said.

Wireless e-business is the next phase in the e-business continuum where IBM

wants to play a major role by trying to establish a common infrastructure that

supports access to data from any device, anywhere.

Meanwhile, IBM Net Generation Business has launched Blue Velocity, a new

initiative with a four-pronged approach -- programs, partnerships, people and

offerings -- to help Internet companies and service providers speed their path

to profitability.

IBM has identified a niche area in the marketplace at a time when dot-com

hype has given way to "back to business" reality. Said Timothy Wong,

Director, IBM NetGen Business, Asia Pacific, "There is added pressure on

the Internet companies to focus on their core competencies to translate their

promises into profitability. Blue Velocity is meant to turn infrastructure

investments into increased revenues and sustainable growth."

Under Blue Velocity, IBM's ASP Prime is being enhanced to ASP Prime Online.

Under this program, developers and independent software vendors would be

provided with education, application evaluation, technical support and

consulting services on the Web.

With the launch of this new initiative, IBM has added Bangalore to its NetGen

City model, while Delhi is already a NetGen city. The NetGen city concept was

developed to allow faster and easier access to IBM in these cities. IBM has

dedicated teams in these cities that are supported by technical specialists and

consultants from IBM Global Services, products business units and competency

centers.