IBM Opens Chicago Technology Center
On September 23, IBM established a Solution Partnership Center to provide complete testing and support facilities to the developers of e-business applications in the burgeoning Midwest information technology market, estimated at $18 billion in Illinois alone last year.
The third IBM facility of its kind in the U.S., the IBM Solution Partnership Center underscores a little-known fact: Chicago is the Midwestern capital of e-business by virtue of its high concentration of software developers and e-business service providers. Through the Solutions Partnership Center, developers can tap into IBM’s e-business expertise. This unique resource center will enable independent software developers to work with IBM; benefit from IBM’s worldwide reach, support and service; and get their products to market faster.
Chicago-based Geodesic, already an SPC veteran, also welcomes the new center. Geodesic tested its Great Circle Memory Tuning System at IBM’s East Coast SPC in Waltham, Mass.
In addition, the Chicago SPC houses IBM’s first enterprise application integration (EAI) competency center. The EAI center helps global systems integrators (GSIs) develop and test MQSeries-based solutions for their customers. IBM-trained staff assist with every aspect of product development, including consumer bids, proof of concept, mentoring and transfer of skills.
Open industry standards and multi-platform environments continue to present new development challenges. Whether it be a customer request to ensure that an application runs on the latest IBM platform or the desire to increase market share by targeting Windows NT-based customers, the SPC provides the latest hardware and software for testing new applications. IBM teams of technical consultants are available to work with software developers free-of-charge to resolve a variety of technical challenges.
The wide variety of hardware, middleware and tools offered by the SPC for desktop, midrange and large system environments are simply too expensive for most development shops to keep on hand for testing purposes, yet at the same time they are critical to ensure product performance. By taking advantage of these benefits offered at the SPC, developers can expand their business, reach new markets, and develop their software more efficiently.
The SPCs are a service of PartnerWorld for Developers. With more than 40,000 company members and 160,000 individuals, IBM’s PartnerWorld for Developers is a worldwide program designed to help commercial software developers reach broader markets, lower their costs of doing business and take their products to market faster. The Premier and Advanced Alliance levels of the program recognize the leading 350 solution developers worldwide. The program facilitates the development and sale of third-party software applications running on IBM hardware and software platforms by providing business services, technical services, marketing services, sales support and information services. PartnerWorld for Developers offers developers no-charge software and tools, hardware discounts and leases, access to porting and testing facilities, online technical support, marketing assistance and much more. The program is focused on leading-edge technologies that enable developers to deliver complete e-business solutions to their customers.