Wide range of solutions gives it an edge over the competitors.

For Big Blue, business is as usual, approached from a long-term perspective. Short-term gains are not for this huge organization that has networking contracts that go all the way up to 10 years. And that too, not with any company but with the likes of Tata Steel and Siemens as customers.

In 2000-01, IBM emerged as the No. 5 Network Integrator (NI) in the country with NI revenue of Rs 109.36 crore, growing by 73 percent over previous year. The start of the year saw Sanjiv Pande taking on the reign of the IBM NI/SI team, reorganizing it in a new manner and calling it the integrated technology services division. The strategy was worked out to include the product support team in the portfolio of the network integration services group, thus forming a one-window approach. This apart, IBM Global has two other complementary groups – the business innovation group, which includes ERP practice, supply chain and consulting practice, and the strategic outsource group, which takes on the long-term projects.

IBM’s networking success in 2000-01, came from its ability to provide solutions in totality, which includes business consulting and even an investment arm. Apart from Compaq, it was the only NI which had its own IT hardware to offer also as part of the networking solution. Its expertise covers a breathtaking range with almost everything from IT hardware/software to networking solutions to telecom technologies. With global experience in hand and crucial partnerships, this company is all set to take on much bigger telecommunications projects this year. Already it is well entrenched in the emerging ISP and data center space, executing large projects like Tata ISP and Cyquator. The smart company that IBM is, it is already talking of a business recovery solution that obviously targets the ISP and dotcom sector, which of late, has seen a slowdown and is expected to get consolidated in the current fiscal.