Hundreds of Global Companies Turn to IBM to Tackle Their Most Complex Information-Related Challenges

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that more than 700 SAP clients have turned to IBM DB2 database software to manage heavy database workloads for improved performance at a lower cost.

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As pressure increases on businesses to process increasing amounts of data faster, hundreds of global companies are choosing DB2 database software to address their most complex information-related management challenges.  In fact, IBM is the preferred database software across all industries to provide more efficient and flexible support of the heavy database workload generated by SAP applications.

CIOs are looking to establish information infrastructures that are flexible and can grow with the business, as well as to simplify and automate processes, according to a recent IBM CIO study.  In fact, 74 percent of the 2,500 CIOs surveyed said that continuous business process improvement is a priority to achieve greater efficiency and increase competitiveness.  

In addition to the 700 new clients turning to IBM DB2, IBM has also seen significant momentum in our systems business with close to 250 Power Systems wins over Sun and HP in 3Q alone.  

A growing roster of companies are turning to IBM including Reliance Life, 3 UK and Banco do Brasil to bring greater efficiencies to their IT environments to lower costs, making them more energy-efficient and scalable infrastructures.  

Reliance Life Insurance Company, a part of Reliance Capital, is one of India's leading private insurers providing a range of products for individual and corporate needs. The company is the fourth largest private insurance company in India with a customer base growing to more than seven million in just five years of its operation.

Better transaction performance and faster access to data was a critical business requirement for Reliance Life in order to keep up with its growing customer base and new workload demands.  Two things that led them to move to DB2 from competitive database software were the ability to backup data faster and to increase near real time information availability for better customer service.  By moving to IBM DB2 on Power Systems, the company now provides more timely information to customers, advisors and employees at lower costs.

Mobile broadband provider chooses IBM for their analytics needs

3 UK needed to handle the explosive growth of data hitting their network due to new data services and the increased use of smart phones.  They were under an extremely tight timeline to choose an analytic platform that was flexible and scalable to better understand and keep pace their growing number of subscribers.

According to Darren Silvester, Information Management Architect of 3 UK, they deployed the IBM Smart Analytics System, an integrated software and hardware platform, to analyze network hotspots, detect potential congestion areas and dropped voice calls.  In addition, they are able to analyze call patterns and trends over different types of networks, enabling better customer segmentation.  The system is also providing valuable insight into subscriber inactivity, which assists in churn analysis.

New DB2 10 meets demand to create a safer, more transparent and intelligent financial system

The shift from physical to electronic money, and the spectrum of financial innovations that have accompanied this shift, is putting more demand on financial institution IT systems. Unprecedented computing power and advanced analytics can turn oceans of ones and zeros into insights, in real time -- creating a safer, more transparent and intelligent financial system.  The new version of DB2 10 is already seeing early client support.

Banco do Brasil S.A., with 6,000 locations in Brazil and offices in more than 20 other countries, provides traditional retail banking services, investor portfolio management services and markets analysis and research. With the performance of new DB2 10, Banco do Brasil expects to more quickly handle increased workloads compared to the previous version. The new version will immediately give the bank much-needed room for future workload growth such as the emerging trend of mobile banking, while simultaneously reducing the cost of sharing customer data across IT systems.  Banco do Brasil expects to reduce its power consumption and storage by consolidating its database management systems resulting in additional cost savings.

"IT departments are handling more data faster than ever before to help optimize business results.  CIOs are using technology in new ways to extract the most value from data and address both business and IT need to eliminate wasteful costs," said Arvind Krishna, general manager, IBM Information Management.  "The momentum we are seeing is a result of global demand for both greater insights and greater efficiency in a fast-paced business environment."

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SOURCE IBM