IBM’s New Tools Help Enterprises Deploy AI in a Multi-cloud World

Summary Bullets:

R. Bhattacharyya

• At IBM Think 2021, IBM released several capabilities that help customers craft what it calls an ‘intelligent data fabric’.

• IBM AutoSQL (Structured Query Language) for Cloud Pack for Data is designed to help streamline access to data stored in multiple locations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the shiny new toy on the market that it was a few years ago. Many organizations have by now dabbled with the technology, and a large number have rolled up their sleeves and deployed multiple AI projects. As enterprises mature in their adoption of the technology, they are eager to deploy AI at scale, moving beyond one or two limited implementations to applying machine learning (ML) to more tasks and making it available to a larger number of business units.

IBM Bets on Automation to Spur Hybrid Cloud Adoption; Rivals Attempt to Drown its Messaging

Summary Bullets:

Charlotte Dunlap – Principal Analyst, Application Platforms

• During IBM Think IBM unveiled a set of new products and features underscoring its more comprehensive automation and hybrid cloud portfolio

• Also holding conferences and outlining automation strategies and offerings last week were ServiceNow, Automation Anywhere, and Appian

Following 12 months of aggressive investment in the workflow automation space, IBM used its mega annual conference, IBM Think, to demonstrate how its latest DevOps focus is paying off and strengthening the company’s overarching hybrid cloud agenda.

Workflow automation represents an emerging market sector which most closely defines the current DevOps concept and includes a prominent list of ecosystem rivals. While IBM leveraged the conference to provide hybrid cloud technology updates, its larger agenda was meant to reiterate its strengths going forward in the increasingly competitive workflow automation space. IBM finds itself facing notable competitors within a changing ecosystem including ServiceNow, Salesforce, Pegasystems, Automation Anywhere, Appian, and Microsoft among others. These vendors represent both partnerships and competitors in an evolving market which touches upon several advanced technologies including low-code development platforms, robotic process automation (RPA), AI, workflow automation tools, and intelligent process automation (IPA).

Facebook Workplace Is Poised to Become a Significant Threat to Collaboration Players

Summary Bullets:

• Facebook enterprise collaboration tool Workplace is being used by seven million paying subscribers, up 40% year-on-year.
• Facebook is leveraging its internally developed platform, brand, customer base, and deep resources. Other providers of collaboration tools should pay attention.

The collaboration market is set to witness additional competition, as Facebook is becoming an important player with its Workplace software tool.

Everyone knows Facebook is big; more than three billion users worldwide prove that. But it’s a relative secret that Facebook is also big – and growing – in the business market, with more than 200 million customers.  Within that base, Facebook supports in excess of 30,000 organizations using Workplace, including seven million paid subscribers.