IBM Connects Internet of ings to the Enterprise

ARMONK, N.Y. - 31 Mar 2015: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it will invest $3 billion over the next four years to establish a new Internet of Things (IoT) unit, and that it is building a cloud-based open platform designed to help clients and ecosystem partners build IoT solutions.

IBM's pioneering work in Smarter Planet and Smarter Cities was based on practical applications of IoT in the enterprise and led to a broad set of solutions, ranging from water management to optimizing retail and customer loyalty to alleviating traffic congestion. IBM leads in enterprise IoT implementations that securely combine and analyze data from a wide variety of sources.

With new industry-specific cloud data services and developer tools, IBM will build on that expertise to help clients and partners integrate data from an unprecedented number of IoT and traditional sources. These resources will be made available on an open platform to provide manufacturers with the ability to design and produce a new generation of connected devices that are better optimized for the IoT, and to help business leaders across industries create systems that better fuse enterprise and IoT data to inform decision-making.

Our knowledge of the world grows with every connected sensor and device, but too often we are not acting on it, even when we know we can ensure a better result, said Bob Picciano, senior vice president, IBM Analytics. IBM will enable clients and industry partners apply IoT data to build solutions based on an open platform. This is a major focus of investment for IBM because it's a rich and broad-based opportunity where innovation matters.

IBM estimates that 90 percent of all data generated by devices such as smartphones, tablets, connected vehicles and appliances is never analyzed or acted on. As much as 60 percent of this data begins to lose value within milliseconds of being generated. To address this challenge, IBM is announcing it will offer:

IBM IoT Cloud Open Platform for Industries: This platform will provide new analytics services that clients, partners and IBM will use to design and deliver vertical industry IoT solutions. For example, IBM will introduce a cloud-based service that helps insurance companies extract insight from connected vehicles. This will enable new, more dynamic pricing models and the delivery of services that can be highly customized to individual drivers.

IBM Bluemix IoT Zone: New IoT services as part of IBM's Bluemix platform-as-a-service will enable developers to easily integrate IoT data into cloud-based development and deployment of IoT apps. Developers will be able to enrich existing business applications such as enterprise asset management, facilities management, and software engineering design tools by infusing more real-time data and embedded analytics to further automate and optimize mission-critical IoT processes.

IBM IoT Ecosystem: Expansion of its ecosystem of IoT partners from silicon and device manufacturers to industry-oriented solution providers such as AT&T, ARM, Semtech and newly announced The Weather Company to ensure the secure and seamless integration of data services and solutions on IBM's open platform.

IBM's capabilities are illustrated in a new global strategic alliance announced today withThe Weather Company through WSI, its global B2B division. WSI's forecasting system ingests and processes data from thousands of sources, resulting in approximately 2.2 billion unique forecast points worldwide, and averages more than 10 billion forecasts a day on active weather days. The IoT and cloud computing allow for collection of data from more than 100,000 weather sensors and aircraft, millions of smartphones, buildings and even moving vehicles. The two companies will help industries utilize their understanding of weather on business outcomes and take action systemically to optimize those parts of their businesses.

The new unit will be led by Pat Toole as General Manager.

Join the conversation #IoT

For more information on IBM's Internet of Things business, please visit www.ibm.com/IoT

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As a leader in building practical IoT applications for the enterprise, IBM is working with a broad range of global clients, including:

Continental is jointly developing fully-connected mobile vehicle solutions with IBM for car manufacturers around the world.

Cummins Inc. collects and transmits real-time performance data of its engines for predictive analysis with IBM IoT solutions to maintain higher operating levels and reduce downtimes.

Pratt & Whitney is using IBM IoT solutions, including predictive analytics, to more accurately and proactively monitor the health of more than 4,000 commercial engines.

SilverHook Powerboats is using IBM's IoT Foundation service to access and analyze telematic and biometric data from its boats and pilots to make real-time racing decisions.

IBM is engaged in a partnership with the University of South Carolina to produce more insights on predictive maintenance, combining deep industry expertise from the university's Condition-based Maintenance Research Center with predictive analytics software and skills from IBM.

Whirlpool Corporation is leveraging IBM s IoT and predictive maintenance and quality solutions to improve the performance and reliability of its appliances.

IBM also has been helping cities around the world become smarter by designing strategies for collecting, sharing, analyzing and acting on data. For example:

Smarter Cities

Miami-Dade County, Florida is working with IBM on a Smarter Cities initiative to improve services for residents and help agencies share information among the 34 municipalities within the county. The project spans multiple areas including using data from smart meters to analyze and detect water leaks in the Parks, Recreation, & Open Spaces Depa

LINK:	http://www-03.ibm.com/press/uk/en/pressrelease/46461.wss...
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