IBM Looks Into The Crystal Ball
The IT mega vendor acquires the predictive analytics specialist SPSS
On July 28th IBM announced the plan to acquire SPSS, a leading provider of predictive analytics solutions. The acquisition, which is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, is expected to close later this year and will position IBM as a leading vendor of Business Intelligence in the market.
Please read this Forrester Report for more insights.
· Are We At The Beginning Of A New IT Innovation Cycle?
IT Innovation does not happen at constant pace but typically in waves of rapid growth, saturation and commoditization. Examples of major IT innovation waves in the past include mainframe computing (1959-1976), personal computing (1976-1992) and more recently network computing, starting 1992 with the introduction of the first integrated ERP systems and declining since the peak of the internet hype in 2000. There seems to be a pattern of innovation cycles that peak after 8 years of rapid growth, followed by another 8 years of stagnation. If this is true we are just at the start of a new innovation hype – we might just not have seen the boom in its full beauty because of the overlapping economic crises.
· Is Smart Computing The Next Big Thing?
As business challenges are becoming more and more complex, IT solutions are becoming more complex too and span across hardware, middleware, applications and analytics. Smart computing could be the driver for the next IT innovation cycle. In simple terms it can be described by four A’s starting with the awareness of the system status, analysis of the status, consideration of alternatives and finally action on best the possible option. Smart computing bridges the gaps between the physical world (sensors, tags, chips etc.), hardware (servers, networks etc.), software (applications, processes etc.), information (analytics, data mining etc.) and decision support (forecast, optimization etc.).
· IBM Delivers On A Smarter Planet
By adding predictive analytics IBM demonstrates how serious they are with their ‘smarter planet’ strategy. Predictive analytics and decision support tools are on the tip of the iceberg of smart computing and via the acquisition of SPSS, IBM is better positioned than any other vendor to deliver integrated smart solutions in the future from the physical world awareness up to decision support tools.
Do you think we are at the beginning of a new IT innovation cycle? And is smart computing the next big thing that will drive innovation? Please leave a comment or contact me directly.
Kind regards,
Holger