2024-01-18 20:04:03
*By Joana Moura, IBM Ecosystem Director in Latin America
The year 2023 was productive for the IBM ecosystem. We saw the adoption of our Artificial Intelligence and hybrid cloud technology increase as companies across industries looked to modernize processes, create new revenue streams and transform business models. More than ever, IBM partners have been at the center of these transformations, playing a critical role in helping customers capitalize on the revolutionary potential of AI and hybrid cloud. That’s why we’re excited to announce that we’re introducing a new service track in Partner Plus to create even more opportunities for IBM partners to win and grow their business.
It’s hard to think of another time in technology where partnership was more crucial than it is today. The growing demand for business modernization and automation has reached staggering levels, and partners have become key in meeting this customer need to accelerate AI and cloud adoption. It’s a fundamental reason for the great strides we’ve made in 2023 to equip our partners and reach new levels of success. For example, in January we launched a program that offered partners the right mix of resources, education and support, and in May we introduced the watsonx, an AI platform that is reliable and easy to incorporate into partner and customer solutions. This marriage of a robust partner program and cutting-edge technology has opened doors for all IBM partners, enabling them to service, sell and develop IBM technology to deliver greater value to customers.
Introducing the new service range
We firmly believe this trajectory will continue, and with the new line of Services, we are supporting partners in the way they choose to work with IBM and their clients. Consultancies, systems integrators and managed services providers are a vital part of the IBM ecosystem that helps clients achieve their business objectives with our technology. This enhancement to the Partner Plus program is designed to recognize the influence these partners have in driving market adoption of the IBM portfolio and to help accelerate their success.
Starting today, as service partners progress through the three available tiers, they can unlock a range of powerful benefits, including:
- Deeper collaboration with IBM to support the success of service partners at the market level and assist in generating end-customer demand;
- Resources to accelerate the co-creation of service offerings and promote IBM Technology;
- Closer alignment between IBM vendors and service partners, including shared KPIs to better support how they work with customers to help increase value and drive growth;
- New specialized course offerings and badges created for service partners to deepen technical skills and help differentiate their knowledge in the market.
The economics are clear: every dollar of hybrid cloud platform revenue has a multiplier effect of 6 to 8 dollars in services revenue, and today we are helping the IBM ecosystem capture this potential, taking another step forward in our evolution that prioritizes partners. Now, regardless of business model, partners have the ability to leverage the new Services segment to expand growth paths with IBM, as well as resell and develop IBM technology.
A year of Ecosystem boost with Partner Plus
IBM Partner Plus has become a catalyst for collaboration and innovation. When we launched the program, we set out on a mission to reimagine the way we interact with our partners, simplifying the experience and making it easier to work with them. One year later, we are well on our way, having added thousands of new registered partners to our growing global ecosystem and creating countless new opportunities with existing partners, including helping them fulfill the areas of greatest customer demand. customers.
We saw an incredible boost in our business partners’ achievements with IBM technology, especially with watsonx, adopting the education and skills resources we made available in late 2022 – totaling 130,000 enrollments in one or more certifications, resulting in almost 60,000 trainings. Recent milestones include the launch of a global network of AI innovators called AI Alliance and the announcement of partnerships with industry leaders, such as SAP e Dun & Bradstreetaround working together to leverage Watsonx in enterprise AI use cases.
We are also working closely with many of our service partners, including Wipro, NTT Data, TCS and others, to test Watsonx technology with customers in different use cases, and we are collaborating with partners as they establish Watsonx Centers of Excellence to scale AI – driven customer innovations. These successes are just a subset of what our business partners are achieving and are just the beginning as we continue to prioritize partners to jointly capture the potential of the AI market.
2024: the year of the partner
As exciting as 2023 has been, the reality is that we have only seen the surface of what our ecosystem can offer. Many companies are racing to unlock the promise of technologies like AI and cloud, and we believe the IBM ecosystem holds the key – through expertise, an expansive network, and a commitment to helping customers driven by a combination of Sales, Development and Services.
Adding new forms of service is just one example of how we will continue to deliver on our promise to become the “partner of choice” for both new and long-time partners. And, as always, we will listen to our partners and collaborate to maximize impact and success in 2024. I know I speak for IBMers around the world when I say that I am confident that the best is yet to come for the IBM ecosystem.
IBM press office
Weber Shandwick
E-mail: [email protected]
1705643290
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