IBM Sets Up SOA Hub in India

IBM has set up a global hub in Bangalore, India, for the management and creation of replicable components based on SOA (service-oriented architecture), according to a company executive.

These replicable components will help increase the speed of delivery of services and lower the cost for customers who would otherwise have to buy custom-built components, said Matt Porta, head of the Global Business Solution Program of IBM’s Business Consulting Services.

The Global Business Solutions Center will be in charge of enhancing IBM’s portfolio of replicable components across 17 industries. IBM, based in Armonk, New York, already has about 50 such components across those industries. The company plans to invest US$200 million a year to develop and market replicable components.

SOA is enabling IBM to go a lot further in building replicable components than it could before, according to Porta. The company can now create code for a business process that can be reused with business applications from various vendors and for multiple clients, Porta added.

Until the hub was set up, the creation of replicable components was dispersed across various locations. “We decided that if we were going to get serious, we needed a global hub to manage all this,” Porta said.

The center will work with about 60,000 IBM consultants and other resources worldwide on the conceptualization, development, maintenance and enhancement of the components, said Jeby Cherian, head of the center. For example, the center is working on enhancing a dynamic inventory optimization tool that uses analytical modeling for better supply-chain management. This tool is applicable to several industries, Cherian said.

The ideas for new replicable components will typically come from clients and field staff, Porta said. IBM Solutions Boards will evaluate suggestions, and after their approval, the management of component development will be handed over to the Global Business Solutions Center, Porta said.

The center will be staffed depending on its projects, Cherian said. Besides using staff at IBM’s global services delivery centers in India, the center will also work with staff at other locations, he added.

India is the largest of three IBM hubs for services to customers worldwide. The other two are in Brazil and China.

IBM employed 38,500 in India at the end of last year, up from 24,000 at the end of the previous year.

-John Ribeiro, IDG News Service

For related CIO content, check out What You Need To Know About Service-Oriented Architecture, A New Blueprint for IT and Senior Editor Chris Koch’s blog posts on the subject, The Starting Point for SOA and How SOA Really Works.

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