IBM Receives SMB Excellence Award From Major Industry Analyst Firm For Express Advantage

IBM Receives SMB Excellence Award From Major Industry Analyst Firm For Express
Advantage

ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today
announces it has received IDC's first SMB Excellence Award for the
effectiveness of its Express Advantage program in helping mid-market
businesses thrive in a rapidly changing business environment. IBM, the only
firm to receive awards in two categories, was also recognized in the
"Innovative Alliances" category for the Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solution
via IBM Smart Cube.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

IBM's Express Advantage program was recognized in the category of "New
Application Approaches" -- and was awarded for excellence in product
development and promotion. Express Advantage includes IBM's broad portfolio
of targeted hardware, software and services that have met stringent criteria,
including affordability, ease of implementation and ownership to ensure their
value to midmarket businesses. Express Advantage also incorporates IBM's
Business Partner ecosystem, industry insights and connections to help midsize
companies succeed in today's smaller, flatter and smarter world.

"Mid-market companies typically have extraordinary IT needs, but not
extraordinary budgets to meet those needs. IBM, through its Express Advantage
program, has established and nurtured a portfolio of technology resources that
leverages a variety of development resources across technology areas to meet
the sometimes conflicting needs of General Business customers," said IDC's
Raymond Boggs, Vice President of SMB Research.

For example, this Fall IBM added Cognos Express to its Express Advantage
portfolio -- the first integrated reporting, analysis, planning, budgeting and
forecasting solution purpose-built and priced for midsize companies.

"IBM has been recognized by IDC for its breadth and depth of offerings and
solutions for the midmarket that help them to do more with less, manage and
mitigate risk, and take advantage of flexible delivery choices like cloud
computing," said Marc Dupaquier, IBM General Manager, Global Midmarket.

Intuit QuickBooks Enterprise Solution via IBM Smart Cube was also recognized
in the "Innovative Alliances" category for excellence in product development,
distribution and delivery.

The Smart Cube appliance combines Intuit's QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions
financial management software with IBM hardware, middleware, and technical
support. As part of IBM's Smart Business initiative, SMBs that purchase a
Smart Cube also gain access to Smart Market, a Web-enabled marketplace for
browsing, rating, and downloading applications from a growing network of
independent software vendors.

The solution is targeted to firms that aren't quite ready for cloud-based
solutions as well as forward-looking firms that are prepared to outsource a
growing share of their IT needs. In partnering with Intuit, whose accounting
software is currently used by more than half of firms with fewer than 100
employees, and adding distribution through Ingram Micro, IBM has expanded its
reach into the mid-market.

Other award categories included: Market Segmentation/Customer Targeting,
Software-as-a-Service and Cloud Computing for SMBs, Streamlining/Enhancing
Customer Engagement and Technology Deployment.

For full profiles of the SMB initiatives of the 16 award-winning companies,
please see the recently published document, 2009 IDC SMB Excellence Awards -
Innovative Product , Marketing, Support and Promotions Products to Enhance
Customer Appeal and Competitive Success (IDC #220604).

About IBM

Learn more about new midsized business solutions from IBM.

About IDC

The IDC SMB Excellence Awards are granted to technology providers who in IDC's
view are serving the SMB market in innovative ways, providing advanced
technology capabilities to firms with fewer than 1000 employees. Nominees for
the IDC SMB Excellence Award are evaluated on the basis of three key criteria:
the creation of products and/or programs that specifically address the unique
needs of SMBs; the business implications of these products or programs for the
nominated firm; and the competitive impact of these products or programs. The
award recipients are selected by IDC's SMB Research team in consultation with
the IDC analysts that follow the relevant technology market associated with
these products or programs. The full report is IDC#220604.

IDC is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services,
and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer
technology markets. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com.

Contact:
Jennifer Clemente
IBM Communications
919 418 6169
jennic@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

Jennifer Clemente, IBM Communications, +1-919-418-6169, jennic@us.ibm.com