IBM Launches Business Analytics Center of Competency in India

Team of 200 Experts to Support IBM's Global Network of Clients

BANGALORE, India, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today
announced the creation of a new Business Analytics Center of Competency,
headquartered in Bangalore, focused on the rapidly growing business analytics
marketplace.

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

The new Center - a pool of deep subject matter experts who will be deployed
globally to support clients anywhere in the world - is expected to have a
staff of over 200 consultants with advanced analytics skills. These experts
will collaborate with local client teams to craft advanced solutions that
apply analytics to a company's most complex information-based challenges and
biggest opportunities. The Center will also feature deep and scalable skills
and capabilities for clients in the world's emerging growth markets.

The demand for deep analytical skills has begun to emerge as a strategic
imperative as companies seek a competitive advantage in today's transformed
global economy. In fact, 83 percent of CIOs in the recently released IBM
Global CIO Study identified business intelligence and analytics - the ability
to see patterns in vast amounts of data and extract actionable insights - as
their number-one priority to enhance their organizations' competitiveness.

IBM's extensive investment in highly differentiated services capability is
manifested in the operating model for the new Business Analytics Center of
Competency. The Center will house experts with unique skills and expertise in
deploying IBM patented analytics capabilities and assets that address
specific, targeted analytical applications. For example, the team features
experts in the area of advanced customer analytics and social media analytics.
The team is using IBM patented analytics techniques in these two areas to
help clients in the telecommunications, retail and financial services
industries to improve customer service and retention.

"The new Business Analytics Center of Competency is an important component in
our rapidly expanding and unmatched portfolio of business analytics
capabilities," said Fred Balboni, Global Leader, IBM Business Analytics and
Optimization. "Through our extensive experience we've built the broadest and
most sophisticated analytics services and solutions in the industry and are
deploying them to address our clients' most profound business issues."

The new IBM Business Analytics Center of Competency will focus on a number of
core areas vital to successfully applying analytics to industry problems.
Some of these areas include: Web 2.0 Analytics, Risk and Fraud Analytics,
Financial Analytics, Customer Analytics and Enterprise Business Analytics
Strategy. The Center will also have a deep set of analytical skills focused
on helping clients gather and manage the right information and insights to
improve their performance.

The Business Analytics Center of Competency will also support IBM's recently
announced network of global Business Analytics Solutions Centers. The
centers, located in Berlin, Beijing, New York and Tokyo - soon to be joined by
Washington, DC and London - are in place to serve clients in those local
markets, with specializations in areas like Smarter Cities, Transportation and
Federal Government.

In these centers, IBM draws upon its vast information management portfolio,
including technologies from IBM Software, Hardware, and IBM Research, along
with industry expertise from over 4,000 consultants in the Business Analytics
and Optimization Services practice.

In addition to Business Analytics, IBM has created four other Centers of
Competency focused on deploying resources and capabilities to high-priority,
strategic engagements around the world. This new model - unencumbered by
national boundaries - gives clients access to industry-focused, world-class,
senior expertise in business transformation, along with assets, best practices
and delivery capabilities, garnered from numerous global engagements. The
other IBM Centers include skilled experts in the areas of Strategy and Change,
Banking/Financial Markets, Telecommunications, and Energy/Utilities.

Follow developments on IBM Business Analytics at:
IBM Business Analytics & Optimization Online Press Kit
IBM Business Analytics & Optimization: Smarter Planet on Tumblr
IBM Business Analytics on Twitter

Media Contacts:

Michael Rowinski Prashanth Balarama
IBM Global External Relations IBM India/South Asia External Relations
917-472-3324 +91-80-4068 3844
rowinski@us.ibm.com pbalaram@in.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM

Michael Rowinski, IBM Global External Relations, +1-917-472-3324,
rowinski@us.ibm.com; or Prashanth Balarama, IBM India/South Asia External
Relations, +91-80-4068-3844, pbalaram@in.ibm.com