Thursday, 03 December 2009 10:53 | James Barton
IBM is increasing the support it provides to communications service providers (CSPs) in emerging markets. The US giant is opening new telecommunications development centres in China and Africa to provide training in advanced technical skills, specialised offerings and industry best practices for engineers and managers.
The move is a demonstration of the importance of emerging markets in the development of the telecoms industry and confirmation of IBM’s desire to expand its share of the market in hardware and services by working more closely with CSPs in emerging markets. A third centre, opened in conjunction with Comverse, is located in France and will service Central and Eastern European markets.
The centres focus on addressing challenges faced by CSPs, such as developing new business models, differentiating the customer experience and improving operational efficiency. They offer a range of new telecommunications software solutions on IBM’s Service Provider Delivery Environment 3.0 framework, as well as hardware, services and business partner applications.
China Telecommunications Solutions Centre
Recognising China as the world’s largest telecommunications market, the IBM Telecommunication Solutions Centre has been established to accelerate solution development and streamline product delivery to help Chinese service providers compete more effectively.
Located in IBM’s China Development Labs, the Centre’s experts have been working with China Mobile on the VAS General Operation Platform. Based on IBM Service Delivery Platform, Data Warehouse and Cognos Business Intelligence, the platform has helped China Mobile to reduce time-to-market for new products as well as increase revenue and improve customer service with end-to-end monitoring and analysis.
South Africa Telecom Solutions Lab
The main Telecom Solutions Lab is located in Johannesburg, South Africa, but clients will also be able to access solution demonstrations from three additional satellite locations in Africa: Nairobi, Lagos and Cape Town.
Healthcare is a main focus of the Lab, demonstrated by a ‘proof of concept’ solution entitled “The Enterprise Applications for IMS + SDP for Mobile Healthcare”. Aimed at using wireless infrastructure to improve delivery of healthcare services, the solution allows onsite medical staff instant access to remote specialists, who in turn can access a patient’s information in real time, allowing for rapid diagnosis and remedial action without the need for an in-person examination.
Scott Stainken, general manager for IBM’s telecommunications industry, commented: “IBM’s specialised global centres and labs offer the telco industry an unparalleled level of expertise and support to speed implementation and facilitate more effective use of applications and technologies.”
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