IBM (IBM) says it has opened separate centers of excellence in China, Mexico and India to provide clients with access to the latest technologies and processes in banking, retail and service management arenas.
IBM's China operations incorporate a newly established branch of its Worldwide Banking Center of Excellence in Shanghai to support China's banking clients and to address their issues in core banking systems and payments. The Banking Center will bring together world-class business and technology experts to design and implement next generation payment and core banking systems for China's leading banks. It will be staffed with a worldwide team of banking experts and leverage assets, infrastructures and deep skills from across IBM to develop local banking value-add offerings, form strategy for payment and core system renovation, and improve performance and scalability of existing architecture. The center will offer high-end, banking industry related expertise to tackle critical customer needs and to bring global reach to the local banking clients. IBM's Worldwide Banking Center of Excellence has already been working with many of the leading banks in China to help modernize their back-office operations.
The new Banking Center of Excellence in China will join an existing global network of IBM banking centers that were established in 2007. The network includes centers at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab in California, operated by the IBM High Performance On Demand Solutions Lab; the IBM Poughkeepsie Lab in New York; the IBM Software Solutions Lab in Seoul, Korea; Hanoi, Vietnam; and Johannesburg, South Africa.
China, Mexico and India represented 18% of IBM's geographic revenue in the second quarter of 2008, and together grew 21% as reported. In addition, the Brazil, Russia, India and China subset grew 31% in the second quarter and were led by explosive growth in India.
"These results demonstrate that IBM has the ability to thrive in emerging markets," said Bruno Di Leo, IBM general manager, Growth Markets. "Our continued investments give IBM a competitive edge; global reach and scale; and services and products that deliver genuine value to clients wherever they do business."
