IBM has launched a series of industry-specific software and services packages for the financial services sector, and plans to release similar sets of offerings for other industries. The so-called Middleware Solutions target banking, insurance, and finance firms with offerings IBM executives say are crafted in response to customer requests. Putting technology and services together "represents the capabilities of all IBM's technologies in a way that the customer understands, because it maps right into a project that an IT executive has likely already been asked to deploy," says IBM industry marketing director Doug Brown. IBM offers consulting guidance for specific problems, such as revamping retail banking web sites, as part of the 15 Middleware Solutions. In addition, the software comes with prebuilt links and application providers are recommended. The packages can be implemented whole or in parts, says Brown. IBM's corporate strategy is to sell solutions to difficult business problems rather than pure technology--solutions that involve hardware, software, and consulting services. Copyright 2004 INFORMATION, INC. |
