The new year got off to a fast start for IBM. There was a slew of announcements in hardware, software, services, acquisitions, and corporate initiatives. There have been forty or so acquistions in the past five years. An interesting contract was landed to assist the State of Arizona in developing and implementing a statewide system for voter registration. Here are the announcements made by the company during the month. The complete index of prior IBM Happenings is here.
IBM leads initiative to improve patent quality The new initiative, formed in partnership with the USPTO, OSDL, members of the open source software community and academia, is focused on improving U.S. patent quality.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19101.wss
IBM changes U.S. pension plans
The changes continue IBM's global strategy of shifting the future focus of retirement benefits toward the more predictable cost structure of a 401(k), or defined contribution, plan.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19090.wss
Banco Espirito Santo signs services contract Banco Espirito Santo signed a 150 million euro, 10-year outsourcing services agreement for IBM to manage the bank’s information technology infrastructure.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19102.wss
IBM, Sony, Toshiba broaden technology alliance The three companies have begun a new, five-year phase of their alliance, researching advanced process technologies at 32 nanometers and beyond.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19103.wss
AK Steel extends IBM contract
IBM will continue to provide the steel company's IT infrastructure services, develop and maintain business applications, and work on a variety of key initiatives.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19080.wss
IBM reports 2005 fourth-quarter results
IBM today announced fourth-quarter 2005 diluted earnings per common share of $2.01 from continuing operations.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19124.wss
A replay of the earnings announcement and additional materials are available at:
http://www.ibm.com/investor/4q05/
IBM signs 10-year agreement with Gap Inc.
The 10-year, approximately $1.1 billion contract will provide Gap Inc. with mainframe, server, network, helpdesk and deskside support services across its North American stores and corporate locations.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19125.wss
IBM to develop Arizona voter system
IBM has received a $9.4-million contract to assist the State of Arizona in developing and implementing a statewide system for voter registration.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19120.wss
IBM expands BladeCenter solutions for retail IBM's Systems Solutions for Retail Stores consolidates all in-store servers, storage, networking and applications in a single physical package.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19121.wss
Florida College taps IBM Virtualization
Palm Beach Community College in Florida has selected IBM systems and Linux to consolidate multiple tiers of its computing operations into a more efficient, open infrastructure.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19112.wss
IBM acquires CIMS Lab, Inc.
The acquisition of CIMS Lab, a provider of software that tracks the usage of computing resources across virtualized environments, complements IBM's portfolio of software for virtualized technology.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19153.wss
IBM strengthens the mainframe as data platform The System z9 Integrated Information Processor, in effect, will be a high-speed engine that better enables data to be centralized on the mainframe.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19157.wss
IBM advances real-time collaboration
IBM's new platform includes a new version of IBM Lotus Sametime, new audio and video conferencing integration, and connectivity with leading consumer IM platforms.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19143.wss
IBM report anticipates cyber attack surge in 2006 According to its 2005 Global Business Security Index Report, IBM anticipates cybercrime to evolve from pervasive global outbreaks to smaller attacks targeted at specific organizations.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19141.wss
IBM achieves breakthrough in voice recognition The new voice technology, part of IBM Embedded ViaVoice 4.4, allows drivers and handheld users to speak commands naturally rather than using predetermined commands.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19150.wss
IBM's intranet one of the world's top ten IBM's intranet has been selected as one of "The Year's 10 Best Intranets"
by the Nielsen Norman Group, a user experience research firm.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19156.wss
IBM delivers System i5 with POWER5+ processor IBM's new System i5 line, with its leading POWER5+ processor, shows up to a 33 percent increase in performance over current POWER5-based iSeries models.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19182.wss
The System i5 line was discussed during a teleconference on Jan. 30.
Presentation materials are available at:
http://www.ibm.com/itanalyst/teleconferences/
IBM introduces DB2 Express-C Data Server IBM's DB2 Universal Database Express-C, a versatile data server is available for download, at no cost, to customers, developers and partners.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19183.wss
IBM joins Open Ajax initiative
IBM has proposed the contribution of its software to the Eclipse Foundation and Mozilla that will allow users to develop and debug an Ajax application.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19187.wss
IBM acquires ARGUS semiconductor software IBM has acquired INFICON's ARGUS semiconductor software and related intellectual property, a leading system for lithography advanced process control for semiconductor manufacturing.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19160.wss
IBM opens Electronics Innovation Center
The new IBM Electronics Innovation Center, an extension of the Tokyo Research Lab, will bring together marketplace experience with IBM Research's electronics industry expertise.
http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/19188.wss
Complete index of IBM Happenings