This week is IBM’s Impact Conference in Las Vegas. In past years, IBM conveyed components of different strategies around Mobile and Cloud. However, they have since moved to an integrated approach. This integrated approach is great, but offers a few challenges for an incumbent such as IBM. Here are some things to watch for this week:
Hardware is King
Many of the conversations at Impact have mentioned IBM’s heritage and leadership in the hardware space. This year, IBM celebrates 50 years of the mainframe. And there is plenty of innovative work IBM is doing in the hardware space.
The question is not about IBM’s leadership in hardware. It is more around their longer-term vision. IBM is a company challenged with keeping existing customers engaged (many of which are hardware customers), while engaging an even strong software and services story. The days of the general purpose processor that supports a myriad of applications is less important than specific infrastructure geared toward highly specialized workloads that run at scale.
The Shift in Enterprise Demand
Enterprises are still buying hardware today. But the demand for hardware is shifting from enterprises to service providers. As such, providers like IBM must evolve their software, management and tools to support the change in customers. This impacts the usability for enterprises and service providers alike. And vendors like IBM need to both acknowledge these shifts…and have an answer to the demand.
The Converged Story
Many want to talk about mobile and cloud in specific silos. IBM has been no different in the past. However, at Impact this week, IBM is talking the converged story around both mobile and cloud. This is a key shift in thinking that mirrors the holistic thinking any enterprise should take.
The SoftLayer Parlay
IBM’s acquisition of SoftLayer presented a brilliant opportunity to build a platform for the future. IBM needs to continue innovating and leveraging the SoftLayer platform in a myriad of ways that accommodates the varied requirements of customers (both current and potential).
OpenPOWER Foundation
This week, IBM is promoting their OpenPOWER Foundation pretty heavily. While this is a great move in the right direction, the branding might be off-putting for potential new customers looking for an ecosystem that is less tied to IBM’s hardware heritage. Look for further distinctions to be made in this space as IBM evolves.
Hybrid & Holistic
Finally, moving away from a silo approach, look for IBM to take a holistic approach to embracing both hybrid cloud and mobile strategies. Again, this mirrors where enterprises today need to go. Not necessarily where they are today. But that provides opportunity for IBM to take a leadership position in the industry.