IBM


IBM logo

IBM is an international IT firm that specializes in hardware, middleware and software development founded in 1911. IBM stands for International Business Machines. The company was originally named as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. The corporation got its modern name in 1924. IBM headquarters are currently placed in Armonk, New York, United States. The current IBM’s CEO is Ginni Rometty – first woman to head the company and famous or her contribution to PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting integration with the IT giant.

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IBM is one of the biggest IT ventures in the world and covers almost all the informational technology-related activities. Besides being a manufacturer of multiple hardware and software products, IBM is actively working as a consultant and internet host.

IBM is widely considered to be the first developer of personal computer with its IBM PC that was developed and presented in 1981. To this day the company remains one of the most technologically advanced IT firms, providing services in such fields as cloud computing, Internet of Things, AI, data analysis and many others. The IBM’s POWER microprocessor series is implemented in multiple gaming consoles and server lines.

IBM is a major provider of data centers. The centers allow IBM’s customers to securely store and transform data, analyse and transfer it. The IBM’s SPSS statistics (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) package is largely implemented to perform statistical analysis. SPSS was invented specifically for data analysis in social sciences, but is now also used in medical research, marketing and so on.

IBM started to change its development vector in the nineties. The company started to reduce its manufacturing activity and expand its research and consulting operations. In 2005, focusing its business on the services supply, IBM sold its division for the production and sale of personal computers (the ThinkPad and ThinkCentre line) to the Chinese company Lenovo for $ 1.8 billion. In 2014, Lenovo also bought IBM’s x86-servers development division.

Currently, IBM is most active in such spheres as information security, cloud computing, internet-based enterprise services and business intelligence. The company actively acts as a research organization and produces a lot of IT patents.

IBM and blockchain

IBM is famous not only as a developer of multiple technological products, but also as a major research center. IBM was one of the first IT enterprises that saw the potential of the blockchain technology. In the blockchain industry, IBM mostly acts as an outsource provider of blockchain-based business networks. IBM blockchain solutions are used in supply chain management, insurance, IOT, quality control, etc..

IBM is actively collaborating with the Hyperledger project. The IBM’s blockchain deployment practice actively uses Hyperledger Fabric framework. The company is one of the major contributors to the Hyperledger project.

Some of the most prominent use cases of blockchain implementations are presented on the IBM’s website and include:

  • Disease control and prevention
  • Customs declaration
  • Identity service, asset registration, fraud prevention and other government activities
  • Cross-border payments

The IBM developer resource provides users with a lot of useful information about the blockchain technology. One can find multiple open-source blockchain solutions, tutorials, events and announcements related to blockchain industry.

IBM market performance

IBM was placed nine in revenue among international IT companies in 2017. From the employees number standpoint, IBM is one of the biggest IT companies with more than 360 thousand people working for it. However due to its research contributions and development advancement level, IBM is often placed among top-3 companies.

IBM performs poorly in terms of stock market on the course of the last 5 years. The company’s stock reached its highest price to date in 2013 which is 210,38 USD. Since then, the company’s stock price was falling and is near 119 USD at the time of writing this article. The revenue of IBM is also falling since 2012 and was around 79 billion dollars in 2017.

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