XChange: IBM Exec Pushes Partner Transformation, Specialization

IBM, increasingly shifting its focus to offering diverse cloud services, can help solution providers transform their business, build new practices and realize greater profits, the tech giant's vice president of cloud service providers said Tuesday.

The IT market is at an historic inflection point and channel companies are finding themselves in the position where they must innovate to stay relevant, Judy Smolski told attendees of her keynote at 2015 XChange Solution Provider in Dallas.

"We have put a very specific investment in cloud service providers to really understand what your needs are, what are your clients asking of you," she told the audience.

[Related: Microsoft Exec: Cloud-Focused Solution Providers Outperforming Their Peers]

Smolski thanked IBM's current partners and encouraged the other solution providers and systems integrators attending her keynote to explore some aspect of Big Blue's portfolio they could use to acquire new clients and profitably grow their business.

Because, she said, if clients need services those solution providers don't offer, they will find them elsewhere.

Three big trends -- data, cloud and engagement -- are transforming the industry and "putting incredible pressure" on channel businesses to transform, she said.

Data gives companies a competitive advantage; engagement makes the consumer experience much easier, from retail to health care to banking; and the cloud has evolved well beyond its original primary benefit of reducing costs, she said.

"It's not just about saving money, it's about the new business models that it opens up," Smolski said of what she called "cloud 2.0."

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