News
IBM and Catapulse Target E-Business Infrastructure Industry
IBM and Catapulse Inc. will work together to deliver tools and services for professional solution integrators and software development teams. IBM Global Services has selected Catapulse's Hosted Development Service as its preferred software development platform. Catapulse has selected IBM as its preferred provider for Web hosting, hardware, software and systems integration services for its hosted development service.
The IBM-Catapulse alliance is aimed at servicing the world's 14 million professional software developers. It addresses a fast-growing segment of the e-commerce infrastructure industry -- IDC estimates that the market for enterprise software directed at e-business infrastructure will grow from $42 billion in 1999 to $174 billion in 2003.
Finding enough skilled professionals to take on system integration and software development projects is an on-going dilemma for IT managers. IT industry analysts report that organizations of all sizes are turning to offshore companies due to skills shortages in the United States, the rising costs of domestic labor and the proliferation of Internet technologies. All these factors increase the demand for disparate developers to work as virtual teams. The IBM-Catapulse alliance provides customers with the ability to develop and deploy the systems and software needed to compete in today's economy.
The Catapulse service hosts software tools from leading vendors and provides a collaborative framework for systems integrators and software professionals to work on projects regardless of their geographic location. IBM Global Services expects to equip the first of its professional software development teams with the Catapulse offering in the first half of 2001. Initially available in the U.S., the companies are exploring options to deliver the Catapulse service worldwide on IBM technology. For more information, visit www.catapulse.com, or www.ibm.com/services.