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.
For more, read the eWEEK article: IBM Launches Smarter Commerce Strategy.
