IBM Outlines New Smarter Commerce Strategy

IBM has launched a new initiative called "Smarter Commerce" that draws upon Big Blue's software and services expertise to define a new market to meet new commerce challenges clients are facing in today's social media and mobile computing landscape.

Under this initiative, IBM announced new software and the creation of a new consulting practice dedicated to the emerging category of smarter commerce, which is focused on helping companies swiftly adapt to rising customer demands in today's digitally transformed marketplace.

Craig Hayman, general manager of IBM Software Industry Solutions, told eWEEK the Smarter Commerce effort began two years ago and is "the amalgamation of $2.5 billion in acquisitions we made in 2010, along with some organic technology we put in."

Indeed, IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative builds on the foundation of the WebSphere Commerce platform and the company's $2.5 billion investment in on-premises and cloud-based software from IBM's acquisitions of Sterling Commerce, Unica and Coremetrics. IBM acquired Sterling Commerce for its order management and supply chain optimization technology. IBM bought Coremetrics for its capabilities for analyzing customer behavior. And the company purchased Unica for its software for managing marketing campaigns from beginning to end.

"Although we had established this vision two years ago, as we announced these acquisitions we deliberately only told a piece of the story because we were still putting it together," Hayman said.