IBM has set up a global hub Bangalore, India, for the management and creation of replicable components based on 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, says 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 now has about 50 such components across those industries. The company plans to invest USD 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 create code for a business process that can be reused with business applications from various vendors and for multiple clients, Porta says.
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 says.
The center will work with about 60,000 IBM consultants and other resources worldwide on the conceptualization, development, maintenance and enhancement of the components, says 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 says.
