International Business Machines Corp., the world's largest computer services company, will use Google Inc.'s technology within its own search programs to help clients better find and manage information.
The agreement is part of IBM's new strategy, "Information as a Service," to provide software, hardware and services to make it easier to find and use data across various formats and locations, Chris Andrews, a spokesman, said in an interview today.
In linking with Google, IBM is tapping a technology used by more than 400 million users a month to search the Internet and desktop files. IBM, based in Armonk, New York, is betting it can use the technology to boost sales by helping customers manage their documents.
"IBM are trying to take their whole product set and create a holistic solution to managing information," said Barry Murphy, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "They could drive this into a multibillion- dollar-potential market." Chief Executive Sam Palmisano has revived profit at IBM by selling the money-losing personal computer unit and is now focusing on more-profitable services and software. The company has spent US$1 billion on research and development on its new strategy and has bought 14 companies, including Westborough, Massachusetts-based Ascential Software Corp. for US$1.1 billion in May, to add technology including data-integration software.
IBM faces challenges in persuading companies to buy an over-arching data-management system, when they may want products and services to fix specific problems, according to Murphy.
"This is a lot for any organization to get their arms around," said Murphy. "The biggest challenge is, are organizations going to respond to this big a solution?"
IBM will have to change its corporate culture to encourage its sales force to sell a general data-management solution rather than individual products, Murphy said.
The Google desktop search is available at no charge to current users of IBM's Omnifind search as a download on IBM's Web site. There was "no exchange of money" with Mountain View, California-based Google, and the deal is purely a technology partnership, Andrews said.
Shares of IBM slipped US$0.89 to US$81.42 at 4pm in New York Stock Exchange Composite trading. The stock has slumped 17 percent so far this year.
Ryanair, Transavia, Volotea and other low-cost airlines are feeling the financial pain from high jet fuel prices as a result of the Middle East war and are cutting flights. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has taken a huge chunk of oil supplies off the market, sending the price of jet fuel soaring and triggering fears of shortages that could force airlines to cancel flights. Airlines are not waiting for a lack of supplies to react. “Travel alert: Airlines are cutting thousands of flights right now,” Travel Therapy host Karen Schaler said in an Instagram reel this past weekend.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
RSS