Software – Way Out Front
Today, IBM has the second largest software organisation in the world. Currently, software contributes around 40% of IBM UK's profitability, making it the biggest part of the business.
IBM software is at work every day, right across the business spectrum - from large enterprises to mid-size organisations and family-run firms.
Over the past couple of years, IBM has acquired around 30 software companies that have either added innovative products to the portfolio or provided assets that it would have taken IBM a long time to build. During 2006, for instance, IBM spent $3.8 billion on 13 acquisitions - nine of them in strategic areas of software.
In 2006, independent analysts put IBM way out front in the application development marketplace - for the sixth consecutive year. IBM is also the preferred choice when it comes to enterprise content management software, providing organisations with essential capabilities such as integrated document management, Web content management, records management, document capture, document-based collaboration and workflow.
Many of the UK's top organisations also rely on IBM software to run their Web sites. IBM's WebSphere is the number one portal software, based on revenue from licences and maintenance, and in 2006, independent researchers put IBM at the head of the enterprise portal software market for the fourth consecutive year.
IBM is also leading the field in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), an IT infrastructure for business. This approach is generating huge interest among organisations, as it enables them to design systems faster and cheaper. We are taking an open approach in this arena, so that clients can build on what they have already and make everything work together - whether it's from IBM or not.