IBM sees higher spending for collaboration software

EVEN as companies start to bunker in and cut budgets while forgoing long-term strategic spending due to the global slowdown, computer company International Business Machines (IBM) Corp. sees more spending for collaboration software, seen to virtually bridge the physical gap between a firm’s employees, partners and even customers.

In a press briefing last week, IBM officials said the company is seeing increasing interest from businesses in the Philippines along with the rest of the Asean region for IBM’s new Lotus collaboration products which were also launched that day.

“Rather than companies cutting on costs they are looking at collaboration to optimize [operations],” said Iris Hester Tan Chiu, IBM Philippines brand manager for Lotus Software.

She said talks have already begun in the past eight months with “all major” telecommunication companies which have expressed interest in IBM’s LotusLive software services.

Also, labor-intensive industries like those in the business-process outsourcing sector like call centers and even the badly hit manufacturing sector have shown interest in Lotus collaboration products.

“Companies are approaching us more that we are looking out for [them],” the IBM executive said. She declined to give further details on their clients but added that IBM will release specifics in the near future.

LotusLive is a portfolio of social networking and collaboration services designed for businesses and is seen to simplify the way these same firms interact with customers, partners and suppliers.

Sandeep Bakhshi, Lotus business unit executive for Asean, said the interest in the Philippines is part of a regional trend for collaboration software.

During the briefing, a Gartner Research analyst told reporters that one of immediate effects of reduced company budgets will result in less corporate travel; and this can be problematic for firms whose network covers a large area.

“About 90 percent of employees work away from the corporate headquarters [while] 70 percent to 80 percent work in a different location,” said Michael Garbett, Lotus Software’s director for worldwide sales.

“One of the key things that majority of analysts say [is that] collaboration becomes even more critical now because of this economic problem,” he said. “So we need to use tools to lower costs whether to travel or to get office supplies, and bring together ideas or people regardless of time zones.”