2023 was a pivotal year for the IBM ecosystem. We saw adoption of our AI and hybrid cloud technology increase as companies across industries sought to modernize their processes, create new revenue streams, and transform their business models. Now more than ever, our IBM partners were at the center of those transformations, playing a critical role in helping clients capitalize on the potential of AI and hybrid cloud. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new “Service” track in Partner Plus to create even more opportunities for IBM business associates to earn and grow their business.
It’s hard to think of another time in technology when partnership was more important than it is today. The growing demand for business modernization and automation has reached staggering levels, and partners have become the tip of the spear to meet this customer need to accelerate AI and cloud adoption. It’s a key reason for the big steps we took in 2023 to equip our partners to reach new levels of success. For example, in January we launched a new program that offered partners the right mix of resources, training and support, and in May we launched watsonx, a reliable AI platform that is easy to integrate into your and your customers’ solutions. This combination of a strong partner program and cutting-edge technology has opened doors for all IBM partners, empowering them to service, sell and build on IBM technology to deliver more value to their clients.
We present the Service route
We firmly believe this trajectory will continue, and with the new Service track we are supporting partners in whatever way they choose to work with IBM and clients. Consultants, advisory firms, systems integrators and managed services providers are a vital part of the IBM ecosystem, helping clients achieve their business goals with our technology. This enhancement to the Partner Plus program is designed to recognize the influence these partners have in driving market adoption of the IBM portfolio and to help accelerate their success.
Starting today, as Service Partners progress through the three available tiers, they can unlock a number of powerful benefits, including:
– Deeper collaboration with IBM to support the success of service partners at the market level and help generate end customer demand.
– Resources to accelerate the co-creation of service offerings and encourage the promotion of IBM technology.
– Closer alignment between IBM vendors and Service Partners, including shared KPIs, to improve support for how they are working with customers to help increase value and drive growth.
– New specialized course offerings and badges created for service partners to deepen technical skills and help differentiate their experience in the market.
The economics are clear: every dollar of hybrid cloud platform revenue has a multiplier effect of $6 – $8 in services revenue, and today we are helping the IBM ecosystem capture that potential by taking another step forward in our partner evolution. first. Now, regardless of business model, partners can take advantage of the new services avenue to expand their growth paths with IBM, as well as resell and build on IBM technology.
A year promoting the ecosystem with Partner Plus
IBM Partner Plus has become a catalyst for collaboration and innovation. When we launched the program we set out to reimagine the way we interact with our partners, simplifying their experience and making it easier to work with them. One year later, we are well on our way, adding thousands of new registered partners to our growing global ecosystem, and creating countless new opportunities with existing partners including helping them offer services in the areas of greatest demand by customers. customers.
We have seen incredible momentum among our business partners gaining with IBM technology, particularly watsonx, and adopting the education and training capabilities we made available by the end of 2022, to the point of having 130,000 enrollments in one or more badges, resulting in nearly 60,000 badges completed. Recent milestones include the launch of a global network of AI innovators called AI Alliance, and the announcement of partnerships with industry leaders such as SAP and Dun & Bradstreet around working together to leverage watsonx for enterprise AI use cases.
We are also working closely with many of our service partners, such as Wipro, NTT Data, TCS and others, to pilot watsonx technology with customers in different use cases, and are collaborating with partners as they establish Centers of Excellence watsonx to scale customer innovations powered by AI. These successes are just one example of what our business partners are achieving, and it’s just the beginning as we continue to prioritize partners to jointly capture the potential of the AI market.
2024: the year of the partner
As exciting as 2023 has been, the reality is that we have barely scratched the surface of what our ecosystem can offer. Many companies are rushing to unlock the promise of technologies like AI and the Cloud, and we believe the IBM Ecosystem holds the key, through experience, an expansive network and a commitment to helping clients driven by a combination of models. Sell, Build and Service business.
The addition of a new Service track is just one example of how we will continue to deliver on our promise to become the “partner of choice” for both new members and those who have been with us for a long time. And, as always, we will listen to our partners and collaborate to maximize their impact and success in 2024. I know I speak for IBMers around the world when I say that I am confident that the best is yet to come for the IBM Ecosystem.
