IBM launches portal service group

IBM Corp. Thursday detailed a newly created division in its services group that will sell portal products that mirror a Web-based computing system used by IBM's global workforce for managing corporate data such as expense reports and human resource services.

Nearly 2,000 consultants and system integrators from IBM Global Services and 300 members of IBM's research lab have joined under an umbrella group called the Dynamic Workplaces practice. The division will work with customers to implement intranet portals that enable them to host e-learning and online meetings, as well as collaborate on projects and workgroups.

The Armonk, New York, company will provide customers with software, hardware and technical support to build these Dynamic Workplaces. The offerings will make use of a number of existing IBM products, and will be centered around IBM's WebSphere Portal. The offerings will also tie in products available through IBM subsidiaries Lotus Development Corp. and Tivoli Systems Inc., as well as a few third-party vendors.

For the past four years IBM has implemented a portal system within its own ranks, which provided the basis of the new Dynamic Workplaces offerings.

"IBM has gone through a pretty dramatic transformation in the past few years. Part of that was a complete rewrite of our own systems," said Ralph Senst, vice president of the new Dynamic Workplaces unit. "What we did is create this thing that every IBM employee uses on a day to day basis to do work."

The company claims to have saved billions of dollars with the Web-based system: About 43 percent of IBM employee training was done through e-learning last year; employees conducted 4,800 online meetings each month on average; and about two-thirds of IBM employees make use of the corporate instant messaging system built in to the portal system.

After peaking the interest of IBM customers and business partners who had seen IBM's workplace portal, the company created its new services unit.

An initial customer for the group is Campbell Soup Co., which has agreed to implement the entire package of software and services for its workforce, according to Senst. Another customer, American Express Co., has agreed to use some of the portal products for managing expense reports. American Express will in turn offer that expense reporting package to its customers, he said.

In addition to custom solutions designed by IBM's services division, the company plans to roll out several packaged offerings designed to suit companies of different sizes and with different needs, Senst said. One of those packaged offerings will be a hosted service.

"Our intention is to offer a hosted service to large customer who maybe want to try it out first, or those who don't view operating a data center as their primary business competence," he said.

IBM's concept for the hosted system would also be aimed at small businesses. Such a service would compete with offerings such as Oracle Corp.'s Small Business Suite and Microsoft Corp.'s bCentral small-business services, a division launched through its acquisition of Great Plains Software.

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