IBM to build Quantum Center with Fundación Ikerbasque

IBM will establish a leading quantum computational hub in partnership with Fundación Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science in the Basque Country of Spain. This is the second such IBM Quantum Computational Center to be announced in Europe.

The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center will provide Qiskit Runtime services from a 127-qubit IBM Quantum System One located in San Sebastian and managed by IBM. The initiative aims to advance quantum research, build a quantum workforce, promote economic development, and provide the necessary quantum computing infrastructure to achieve those goals. The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center will promote the use of advanced technology across all the Basque Country Government and the General Deputations (Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa), further elevating research institutions by expanding international research collaborations, performing world-class fundamental scientific research, and increasing the quantum-trained talent in the region.

“It is very risky to say what the future of quantum computers will bring us. Nobody knows for sure. What we do know for sure is that the Basque Country must be prepared for the future. It is essential to be in a good starting position for when the situation requires it. Euskadi joins today, a select group of IBM Quantum Computational Centers. We will actively collaborate with this Network and we will contribute all our knowledge to continue developing this technology. IBM’s commitment to the Basque Country reflects a new recognition of our science, technology and innovation system. The Basque Country believes in science and invests in it. We do so, convinced that our welfare will come through progress, through scientific advances,” assured the President of the Basque Country Government, Mr. Iñigo Urkullu.

“The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center is further proof of our commitment in building open communities of innovation to tackle the most challenging problems of our time,” said Dr. Darío Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, IBM. “This partnership will bring to bear the full scope of IBM's quantum technologies to The Basque Country’s world-class scientific and industrial communities. We are proud to be working with the Government of The Basque Country, as well as private sector and academic partners, to take innovation in Spain to the next level.”

Since 2016, IBM has deployed over 60 quantum computers for external use. There are now more than 20 quantum computing systems, including the 433-qubit IBM Osprey processor.

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2023-03-24-IBM-and-Fundacion-Ikerbasque-partner-to-launch-groundbreaking-Quantum-Computational-Center

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IBM unveils 433-quantum bit processor

IBM unveiled its "Osprey" 433-quantum bit (qubit) processor, more than tripling the 127 qubits on the IBM Eagle processor unveiled in 2021. 

"The new 433 qubit 'Osprey' processor brings us a step closer to the point where quantum computers will be used to tackle previously unsolvable problems," said Dr. Darío Gil, Senior Vice President, IBM and Director of Research. "We are continuously scaling up and advancing our quantum technology across hardware, software and classical integration to meet the biggest challenges of our time, in conjunction with our partners and clients worldwide. This work will prove foundational for the coming era of quantum-centric supercomputing."

IBM also announced a number of quantum partnerships including Bosch, Vodafone, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, and Swiss innovation campus uptownBasel.

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2022-11-09-IBM-Unveils-400-Qubit-Plus-Quantum-Processor-and-Next-Generation-IBM-Quantum-System-Two

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OCP: Massive power efficiency gains for tape vs HDDs

https://youtu.be/5NAr3YPilM8

IBM unveiled its Diamondback Tape Library, a high-density archival storage solution that is physically air-gapped to help protect against ransomware and other cyber threats in hybrid cloud environments.

IBM Diamondback, which can store hundreds of petabytes of data, is designed for both traditional and "new wave" hyperscalers – global enterprises aggregating massive customer data sets. 

In this video, Shawn Brume highlights the platform, including its power efficiency advantage over HDDs in OCP data centers.

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Keysight and IBM target Open RAN in Europe

Keysight Technologies and IBM signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to pursue open radio access network (RAN) deployments in Europe.

IBM endeavors to use Keysight Open Radio Architect (KORA) solutions in the company’s Open RAN center of excellence (CoE), established in 2021, to help mobile operators drive innovation to meet the standards defined by the O-RAN ALLIANCE. IBM intends to integrate Keysight’s software-centric open RAN test, measurement and emulation tools with IBM’s Cloud Pak for Network Automation, an AI-powered telco cloud platform that enables the automation of network operations.

Based in Madrid, Spain, IBM’s CoE enables communications service providers (CSPs) to deploy IBM solutions in their laboratory environments or live networks to support private and industrial applications. IBM’s CoE aims to advance digital transformation in the telco industry and is supported by IBM Consulting.

“Keysight’s collaboration with IBM will help enable mobile operators to speed deployments of digital transformation tools that are critical in supporting industrial competitiveness in Europe,” said Kalyan Sundhar, vice president and general manager for Keysight’s wireless network access business. “The integration of Keysight’s open RAN test solutions with IBM’s Cloud Pak for Network Automation will help service providers in automating applications that are critical to delivering a wide range of connectivity services.”

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IBM cites growth in software and hybrid cloud

IBM reported Q22 2022 revenue of $15.5 billion, up 9 percent, up 16 percent at constant currency (about 5 points from sales to Kyndryl).

"We are a faster-growing, focused, disciplined company with sound business fundamentals," said James Kavanaugh, IBM senior vice president and chief financial officer. "Our recurring revenue stream and solid cash generation position us well to continue to invest in R&D, acquire new companies, and strengthen our talent in every part of the business, while also returning value to shareholders through our dividend."

Some highlights:

Software (includes Hybrid Platform & Solutions, Transaction Processing)— revenues of $6.2 billion, up 6.4 percent, up 11.6 percent at constant currency (about 7 points from sales to Kyndryl):

-Hybrid Platform & Solutions up 4 percent, up 9 percent at constant currency (about 1.5 points from sales to Kyndryl):
 - Red Hat up 12 percent, up 17 percent at constant currency
   -- Automation up 4 percent, up 8 percent at constant currency
   -- Data & AI flat, up 4 percent at constant currency
   -- Security flat, up 5 percent at constant currency
- Transaction Processing up 12 percent, up 19 percent at constant currency (about 22 points from sales to Kyndryl)
- Software segment hybrid cloud revenue up 14 percent, up 18 percent at constant currency 

Consulting (includes Business Transformation, Technology Consulting and Application Operations)— revenues of $4.8 billion, up 9.8 percent, up 17.8 percent at constant currency:

- Business Transformation up 9 percent, up 16 percent at constant currency

- Technology Consulting up 14 percent, up 23 percent at constant currency

- Application Operations up 9 percent, up 17 percent at constant currency

- Consulting segment hybrid cloud revenue up 20 percent, up 29 percent at constant currency

Infrastructure (includes Hybrid Infrastructure, Infrastructure Support)— revenues of $4.2 billion, up 19.0 percent, up 25.4 percent at constant currency (about 7 points from sales to Kyndryl):

- Hybrid Infrastructure up 34 percent, up 41 percent at constant currency (about 7 points from sales to Kyndryl)

   -- IBM z Systems up 69 percent, up 77 percent at constant currency

   -- Distributed Infrastructure up 11 percent, up 17 percent at constant currency

- Infrastructure Support down 2 percent, up 5 percent at constant currency (about 8 points from sales to Kyndryl)

- Infrastructure segment hybrid cloud revenue up 24 percent, up 30 percent at constant currency

Financing (includes client and commercial financing)— revenues of $0.1 billion, down 29.9 percent, down 26.6 percent at constant currency

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2022-07-18-IBM-RELEASES-SECOND-QUARTER-RESULTS

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IBM to deliver Software as-a-Service on AWS

IBM plans to offer a broad array of its software catalog as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) on AWS.

The companies said their strategic agreement will provide clients with quick and easy access to IBM Software that spans automation, data and AI, security and sustainability capabilities. The solution is built on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA), and runs cloud-native on AWS. The two companies are also committing to a broad range of joint investments to make it easier for clients to consume IBM Software on AWS, including integrated go-to-market activities across sales and marketing, channel incentives, developer enablement and training, and solution development for key verticals and industries such as Oil and Gas, Travel and Transportation, and others.

The IBM Software catalog as cloud-native services on AWS will include: IBM API Connect, IBM Db2, IBM Observability by Instana APM, IBM Maximo Application Suite, IBM Security ReaQta, IBM Security Trusteer, IBM Security Verify, and IBM Watson Orchestrate, with others to follow later this year.

"Our collaboration with IBM allows joint customers to accelerate their modernization to the cloud and consume IBM services in a cloud native manner on AWS," said Matt Garman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at AWS. "Through our multiyear agreement, AWS will work with IBM to offer a broad array of IBM Software as SaaS on AWS. In addition, we'll be working together on stronger joint marketing and co-selling programs for customers." 

https://www.ibm.com/strategic-partnerships

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IBM and Samsung unveil Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors

IBM and Samsung Electronics unveiled a new class of Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors (VTFET) - a breakthrough the companies say that could reduce energy usage by 85 percent compared to a scaled fin field-effect transistor (finFET). The design positions the transistors perpendicular to the surface of the chip with a vertical, or up-and-down, current flow. IBM says the vertical positioning allows for greater current flow with less wasted energy. 

The partners have demonstrated a path to scaling beyond nanosheet, implying a path toward manufacturability and further innovation.

Research was carried out at IBM's Albany Nanotech Complex facility.

The companies also announced that Samsung will manufacture IBM's chips at the 5 nm node. These chips are anticipated to be used in IBM's own server platforms. This follows the announcement in 2018 that Samsung would manufacture IBM's 7 nm chips, which became available in the IBM Power10 family of servers earlier this year. The IBM Telum processor, also revealed earlier this year, is similarly manufactured by Samsung using IBM's designs.

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2021-12-14-IBM-and-Samsung-Unveil-Semiconductor-Breakthrough-That-Defies-Conventional-Design

Samsung Foundry targets 3nm in 2022, 2nm in 2025

Wednesday, October 06, 2021  2nm, 3nm, Samsung, Silicon  

Samsung Foundry is scheduled to start producing its customers' first 3nm-based chip designs in the first half of 2022, while its second generation of 3nm is expected in 2023.During its 5th annual Samsung Foundry Forum (SFF) 2021 underway this week, Samsung Electronics unveiled plans for continuous process technology migration to 3- and 2-nm based on the company’s Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor structure.Samsung said its first 3nm GAA process node...

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IBM announces 2nm chip breakthrough

Thursday, May 06, 2021  IBM, Silicon  

IBM unveiled a 2 nanometer semiconductor design and process breakthrough based on a new Gate-All-Around (GAA) nanosheet device architecture. The technology is implemented on a 300 millimeter (mm) wafer built at IBM Research’s semiconductor research facility in Albany, New York.

IBM said it is able to fit 50 billion transistors in a space roughly the size of a fingernail. A 2 nm chip node transistor equates to an approximate 45 percent performance improvement over  7 nm chips. This results in an approximate 75 percent power savings, at the same performance level. 

IBM Research’s Albany lab features one of the most advanced EUV lithography tools in the industry. 

"The IBM innovation reflected in this new 2 nm chip is essential to the entire semiconductor and IT industry," said Darío Gil, SVP and Director of IBM Research. "It is the product of IBM's approach of taking on hard tech challenges and a demonstration of how breakthroughs can result from sustained investments and a collaborative R&D ecosystem approach."

https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2021/05/2-nm-chip/?social_post=4791223916&linkId=118030913

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Video: Telecom Argentina looks to O-RAN

 

https://youtu.be/O-10wcUyUio

O-RAN has the potential to democratize mobile networks, allowing operators to deploy infrastructure much more cost-effectively. In this video, Marisa Viveros, VP Strategy and Solutions, Global Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment, IBM talks about key system integration capabilities across the O-RAN ecosystem. She discusses Telecom Argentina's proof-of-concept O-RAN project with IBM.

Download the 2021 Open RAN Report here: https://ngi.how/o-ran-2021

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Kyndryl is IBM's managed infrastructure services business

IBM's board of directors approved the previously announced separation of the company’s managed infrastructure services business into a new company called Kyndryl.

Kyndryl's mission is to design, run and manage the most modern, efficient and reliable technology infrastructure for the world's most important businesses and organizations. The company will have 90,000 employees worldwide upon spin out from IBM.

To effect the separation the IBM board of directors declared a pro rata distribution to IBM stockholders of 80.1 percent of the outstanding shares of Kyndryl.  Once distributed, each holder of IBM common stock will receive one share of Kyndryl common stock for every five shares of IBM common stock held on October 25, 2021, the record date for the distribution.   The distribution is expected to occur after close of market on November 3, 2021. IBM will retain 19.9 percent of the shares of Kyndryl common stock, with the intention of exchanging those shares for IBM debt during the 12-month period following the distribution, subject to market considerations.

“Today’s announcement is a milestone for IBM, its employees and its shareholders as we enter a new era of growth,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and chief executive officer.  “The separation of Kyndryl is a significant step in the continued evolution of IBM, a company now squarely focused on delivering powerful hybrid cloud and AI solutions and capabilities to enterprises around the world.”

“Kyndryl has an important and exciting mission – to design, build and manage the technology infrastructure that the world depends on each day,” said Martin Schroeter, Kyndryl chairman and chief executive officer.  “As an independent and focused services leader, Kyndryl will be at the heart of progress for our customers.

Kyndryl is organized into six global managed services practices:

• Cloud
• Applications, Data & AI
• Security & Resiliency
• Core Enterprise & zCloud
• Network & Edge
• Digital Workplace

http://www.kyndryl.com

• In September, Kyndryl baned Martin Schroeter as Kyndryl board chairman. Schroeter was IBM's senior vice president of global markets before leaving IBM in June of 2020 and before that he served as the chief financial officer from 2014 to 2017. 

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Telefónica chooses IBM, Red Hat, Juniper for UNICA Next 5G core

Telefónica will use IBM intelligent automation software and services to implement UNICA Next – Telefónica's first-ever, cloud-native, 5G core network platform.

Specifically, Telefónica has engaged IBM Global Business Services, a leading systems integrator and the digital transformation services and consultancy arm of IBM, Red Hat and Juniper networking to deploy the cloud-native platform. The platform is planned to be a new open-standard open-networking technology compliant platform that will be deployed across multiple central, regional, and distributed data centers offering low latency and high bandwidth, while able to deliver services in an agile manner. UNICA Next data centers are planned to be deployed starting in October 2021 and its scalable architecture is designed to address ETSI and other relevant industry standards.

The new network is built on IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation, Red Hat OpenShift, and Juniper Networks Apstra and QFX technology aligned to deliver streamlined end-to-end orchestration and operations. 

IBM says the integration of its automation software  with UNICA Next allows for intent-driven orchestration supporting the end-to-end lifecycle management of different network cloud elements and network functions, including 5G core. 

"Building out the UNICA Next platform with its next-generation network architecture shows how important it is to build the infrastructure now to support the deployment of 5G. 5G has the potential to support thousands of use cases and applications for consumers and enterprises in all industries. Our collaboration will not only help us to harness the potential of 5G, but also prepare for the future through a hybrid-cloud led technology and business transformation. With IBM, Telefónica is combining the latency and bandwidth advancements of 5G with the customization and intelligence of the cloud: we anticipate the results will be transformative in Europe and beyond," said Javier Gutierrez, director of strategy, network, and IT development for Telefónica.

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2021-09-23-Telefonica-Chooses-IBM-To-Implement-Its-First-Ever-Cloud-Native-5G-Core-Network-Platform

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IBM and Airspan team on 5G-enabled Open RAN in Europe

IBM and Airspan Networks will collaborate on the launch of a 5G-enabled Open RAN testbed across the IBM Watson IoT Center in Munich, Germany and IBM’s Global Industry Solution Center (GISC) in Nice, France, to showcase long-distance control over 5G-enabled edge computing.

The Open RAN testbed is intended to advance the development of Open RAN software and hardware solutions, and end-to-end interoperability testing with private 5G stand-alone core networks. The two companies plan to provide partners and customers with the opportunity to collaborate, integrate and test features for next generation campus networks.

As part of the intended collaboration, Airspan Networks is providing its Open RAN AirVelocity 2700 indoor radio unit and virtualized Open RAN Centralized Unit (vCU) and Distributed Unit (vDU) OpenRANGE software to help customers test and validate 5G private network solutions using Open RAN. 

IBM is expected to provide its Global Business Services technology integration services, as well as IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation and IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps, to allow customers to more efficiently manage and orchestrate edge cloud implementation and applications. In addition, the IBM Global Business Services team is planning to implement a visual inspection application for customers to further extend Industry 4.0 5G edge computing use cases on Open RAN.

“Open approaches and standards-based technologies are vital to help unleash the full potential of 5G and edge computing. That’s why, in collaboration with Airspan, we hope to work to advance emerging use cases that harness Open RAN and bring new value to telecom clients. The planned expansion of the Open RAN testbed will allow us to demonstrate these capabilities as we accelerate 5G and edge computing innovation,” said Marisa Viveros, Vice President of Strategy and Offerings, Telecom, Media and Entertainment Industry at IBM.

“Through critical collaboration with leaders like IBM and testing in these labs, which could help accelerate the development of Open RAN and 5G solutions and the open architecture ecosystem, we believe Airspan can continue to be at the forefront of innovation and industry disruption through end-to-end Open RAN solutions,” said Airspan Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Henrik Smith-Petersen.

https://www.ibm.com/services

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DISH picks IBM Global Business Services to automate its 5G architecture

DISH Network Corporation has engaged IBM Global Business Services to help automate its greenfield cloud-native 5G network. 

Specifically, DISH will leverage IBM's AI-powered automation and network orchestration software and services to bring broad 5G network orchestration to DISH's business and operations platforms. Intent-driven orchestration, a software-powered automation process, and artificial intelligence (AI) will be utilized to drive the operations of DISH's cloud-native 5G network architecture.

The IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation software delivers intent-based orchestration functionality to stitch hardware and software resources. This will help DISH make network slicing possible and accelerate the creation and delivery of new services. Network slices – individual pieces that comprise said network – will be managed by customers to set service levels for each device appropriate to their use of the network. For example, an autonomous vehicle can be supported by very low latency while an HD video camera can be allocated high bandwidth. 

"Our 5G build is unique in that we are truly creating a 'network of networks,' where each enterprise can custom-tailor a network slice or group of slices to achieve their specific business needs. IBM's orchestration solutions leverage AI, automation and machine learning to not only make these slices possible, but to ensure they adapt over time as customer use evolves," said Marc Rouanne, chief network officer, DISH Wireless. "With IBM, DISH is combining the speed and latency advances of 5G with the customization and intelligence of the cloud, and the result will be a paradigm shift for small businesses, large enterprises and the broader wireless industry."

"This is a seminal moment for DISH and the global telecommunications industry," said Steve Canepa, managing director, IBM Global Communications Sector. "By utilizing IBM's AI-powered automation and intent-driven network orchestration software, DISH can develop and deploy network offerings, applying advanced AI with IBM Watson and orchestration capabilities to help optimize network operations and performance. As a result, DISH can accelerate time to market for new innovative services powered by a secured, automated, intelligent and agile 5G network." 

https://www.ibm.com/cloud/cloud-pak-for-network-automation

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IBM Telum Processor features interconnect to link up to 32 chips

IBM unveiled its upcoming Telum Processor for artificial intelligence applications. A Telum-based system is planned for the first half of 2022.

Telum is IBM's first processor that contains on-chip acceleration for AI inferencing while a transaction is taking place. The chip contains 8 processor cores with a deep super-scalar out-of-order instruction pipeline, running with more than 5GHz clock frequency, optimized for the demands of heterogenous enterprise class workloads. The completely redesigned cache and chip-interconnection infrastructure provides 32MB cache per core, and can scale to 32 Telum chips. The dual-chip module design contains 22 billion transistors and 19 miles of wire on 17 metal layers.

The chip is developed in Samsung's 7nm EUV technology node.

IBM said its Telum processor excels in AI-specific workloads, such financial services workloads like fraud detection, loan processing, clearing and settlement of trades, anti-money laundering and risk analysis. 

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2021-08-23-IBM-Unveils-On-Chip-Accelerated-Artificial-Intelligence-Processor

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IBM sees Q2 strength in hybrid cloud

 IBM reported revenues for the six-month period ended June 30, 2021 totaled $36.5 billion, an increase of 2 percent year to year (down 1 percent adjusting for divested businesses and currency) compared with $35.7 billion for the first six months of 2020. Net income was $2.3 billion, down 10 percent year to year. Diluted earnings per share was $2.52 compared with $2.83 per diluted share for the 2020 period, a decrease of 11 percent. Q2 revenue amounted to $18.7 billion, up 3 percent (flat adjusting for divested businesses and currency)

“In the second quarter client adoption of our hybrid cloud platform contributed to strong performance in Global Business Services and software and drove improved overall revenue growth. At the same time, we continued to help clients infuse our AI-based technology offerings into their core business workflows," said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman and chief executive officer. "We are pleased with our progress and we remain on track to deliver full-year revenue growth and meet our cash flow objective.”

Some highlights for Q2:

• Cloud & Cognitive Software (includes Cloud & Data Platforms, Cognitive Applications and Transaction Processing Platforms) —revenues of $6.1 billion, up 6.1 percent (up 2.5 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud & Data Platforms grew 12 percent (up 8 percent adjusting for currency), led by the company’s hybrid cloud platform and Cloud Pak growth. Cognitive Applications grew 12 percent (up 8 percent adjusting for currency), led by growth in Security and AI applications. Transaction Processing Platforms declined 7 percent (down 11 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue up 29 percent (up 25 percent adjusting for currency).
• Global Business Services (includes Consulting, Application Management and Global Process Services) — revenues of $4.3 billion, up 11.6 percent (up 7.3 percent adjusting for currency), with growth in Consulting, up 16 percent (up 11 percent adjusting for currency), Application Management up 5 percent (up 1 percent adjusting for currency) and Global Process Services up 28 percent (up 25 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue up 35 percent (up 30 percent adjusting for currency). Gross profit margin declined 60 basis points.
• Global Technology Services (includes Infrastructure & Cloud Services and Technology Support Services) — revenues of $6.3 billion, up 0.4 percent (down 4.1 percent adjusting for currency). Both Infrastructure & Cloud Services and Technology Support Services were flat (down 4 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue down 1 percent (down 5 percent adjusting for currency). Gross profit margin up 110 basis points.
• Systems (includes Systems Hardware and Operating Systems Software) — revenues of $1.7 billion, down 7.3 percent (down 10.2 percent adjusting for currency), driven by declines in IBM Z (down 11 percent; down 13 percent adjusting for currency) and Storage Systems (down 7 percent, down 10 percent adjusting for currency). Power systems declined 2 percent (down 5 percent adjusting for currency). Cloud revenue down 16 percent (down 19 percent adjusting for currency).
• Global Financing (includes financing and used equipment sales) — revenues of $242 million, down 8.6 percent (down 11.6 percent adjusting for currency).
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Colt and IBM form edge alliance

Colt Technology Services is collaborating with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to help customers adopt an edge computing strategy designed to enable them to move data and applications seamlessly across hybrid cloud environments, from private data centres to the edge. 

The companies have agreed to jointly explore  use cases using IBM Cloud Satellite and Edge Application Manager, designed to benefit enterprise customers globally across 29,000 enterprise buildings.

IBM Cloud Satellite is IBM’s hybrid cloud offering, built on Red Hat OpenShift, that allows customers to deploy secure and open IBM Cloud services anywhere they choose –on-premises, on any public cloud, or at the edge. Virtual machines for IBM Cloud Satellite can be instantiated and configured using a management and orchestration tool with zero-touch provisioning. Furthermore, Colt’s on-demand networking capabilities are designed to help critical connectivity be provisioned in near real- time to help enable distributed cloud deployments with IBM Edge Application Manager for its customers (in industries such as retail and healthcare) across 29,000 enterprise buildings.

“We look forward to collaborating with Colt to help customers deploy, operate and manage thousands of endpoints throughout their operations with IBM Cloud Satellite and IBM Edge Application Manager,” said Evaristus Mainsah, GM, IBM Hybrid Cloud and Edge Ecosystem. “Together, we can help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation by acting on insights closer to where their data is being created, at the edge.”

“Colt and IBM have been working together for many years across multiple markets and verticals with a focus on accelerating digital transformation. As we see an increasing demand for multi and distributed cloud environments, we will collaborate on how we can serve our joint customers,” said Mark Hollman, Colt’s VP Partner Development and Success. “We’re exploring now how to combine our Colt IQ Network with IBM’s hybrid cloud platform, to help deliver innovative solutions designed to help accelerate digital transformation for our enterprise customers.’’

IBM Cloud Satellite brings edge capabilities built on Red Hat OpenShift

Monday, March 01, 2021  Edge Computing, IBM  

IBM announced the general availability of its hybrid cloud services - IBM Cloud Satellite.

IBM Cloud Satellite promises a secured, unifying layer of cloud services for clients across environments, whether on-premise or in the public cloud.  IBM said its architecture addresses critical data privacy and data sovereignty requirements for industries including telecommunications, financial services, healthcare and government.

In addition, Lumen Technologies and IBM have integrated IBM Cloud Satellite with the Lumen edge platform to enable clients to harness hybrid cloud services in near real-time and build innovative solutions at the edge.  Applications can be hosted on Red Hat OpenShift via IBM Cloud Satellite from the close proximity of a Lumen edge location. 

Customers using the Lumen platform and IBM Cloud Satellite can deploy data-intensive applications like video analytics across highly distributed environments such as offices and retail spaces, and take advantage of infrastructure designed for single digit millisecond latency. 

"With the Lumen platform's broad reach, we are giving our enterprise customers access to IBM Cloud Satellite to help them drive innovation more rapidly at the edge," said Paul Savill, SVP Enterprise Product Management and Services at Lumen. "Our enterprise customers can now extend IBM Cloud services across Lumen's robust global network, enabling them to deploy data-heavy edge applications that demand high security and ultra-low latency. By bringing secure and open hybrid cloud capabilities to the edge, our customers can propel their businesses forward and take advantage of the emerging applications of the 4th Industrial Revolution."

IBM also noted that it is collaborating with more than 65 ecosystem partners, including Cisco, Dell Technologies and Intel to build secure cloud services helping clients run workloads in any environment via IBM Cloud Satellite. 

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2021-03-01-IBM-Cloud-Satellite-Enables-Clients-to-Deliver-Cloud-Securely-in-Any-Environment-Including-at-the-Edge

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Verizon to build 5G core on hybrid cloud with IBM and Red Hat

Verizon has chosen IBM and Red Hat to help build and deploy an open hybrid cloud platform with automated operations and service orchestration as the foundation of its 5G core.

IBM Global Business Services is also integrating Telco Network Cloud solutions into Verizon’s Service Orchestration Platform to automate and manage services much more efficiently. This integration is designed to improve the service quality, predictably and automation of virtual network functions and comply with Open Network Automation Platform interfaces.

Steve Canepa, Global GM & Managing Director, IBM Communications, states "Verizon is a great example of a communication services provider that is on the forefront of this transformation, by embracing an open hybrid cloud platform that enables a world-class operations environment, aligned to their next-gen vision of an intelligent, highly automated and efficient 5G network. With this transformation, they can scale and deploy new services across a variety of environments, speeding innovation that delivers new value to customers."

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IBM completes Turbonomic acquisition

IBM completed its previously announced acquisition of Turbonomic, an Application Resource Management (ARM) and Network Performance Management (NPM) software provider based in Boston.

IBM said the deal complements its recent acquisition of Instana for application performance monitoring (APM) and observability, and the launch of IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps to automate IT Operations using AI. IBM provides customers with AI-powered automation capabilities that span from AIOps (the use of AI to automate IT Operations) to application-centric performance and IT resources observability – all built on Red Hat OpenShift to run across any hybrid cloud environment.

"We believe that the move to AI-powered automation is essential to helping businesses succeed in a digital-first world," said Dinesh Nirmal, General Manager, IBM Automation. "IBM is already helping thousands of customers use automation to make IT and business processes more efficient and employees more effective. Now that Turbonomic is a part of our portfolio, IBM is the only company providing a one-stop shop of AI-powered automation capabilities, all built on Red Hat OpenShift to run anywhere."

"Today, applications run the business," said Ben Nye, CEO, Turbonomic. "Turbonomic's Application Resource Management assures application performance and governance so customers can focus on innovation. IBM's acquisition of Turbonomic now helps us reach and serve more customers globally – enabling successful application hosting operations across any cloud environment."

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IBM announces 2nm chip breakthrough

IBM unveiled a 2 nanometer semiconductor design and process breakthrough based on a new Gate-All-Around (GAA) nanosheet device architecture. The technology is implemented on a 300 millimeter (mm) wafer built at IBM Research’s semiconductor research facility in Albany, New York.

IBM said it is able to fit 50 billion transistors in a space roughly the size of a fingernail. A 2 nm chip node transistor equates to an approximate 45 percent performance improvement over  7 nm chips. This results in an approximate 75 percent power savings, at the same performance level. 

IBM Research’s Albany lab features one of the most advanced EUV lithography tools in the industry. 

"The IBM innovation reflected in this new 2 nm chip is essential to the entire semiconductor and IT industry," said Darío Gil, SVP and Director of IBM Research. "It is the product of IBM's approach of taking on hard tech challenges and a demonstration of how breakthroughs can result from sustained investments and a collaborative R&D ecosystem approach."

https://www.ibm.com/blogs/research/2021/05/2-nm-chip/?social_post=4791223916&linkId=118030913

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IBM to acquire Turbonomic for app performance assurance

IBM agreed to acquire Turbonomic, an Application Resource Management (ARM) and Network Performance Management (NPM) software provider based in Boston, MA. Financial terms were not disclosed. Media reports valued the deal at between $1.5 billion and $2.0 billion.

IBM said the acquisition will provide businesses with full stack application observability and management to assure performance and minimize costs using AI to optimize resources – such as containers, VMs, servers, storage, networks, and databases. The acquisition complements IBM's recent acquisition of Instana for application performance monitoring (APM) and observability, and the launch of IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps to automate IT Operations using AI. 

Turbonomic's ARM software optimizes the performance, compliance, and cost of applications in real-time. Upon close of the acquisition, IBM plans to integrate Turbonomic's ARM software with the APM and real-time observability capabilities of Instana and the ITOps capabilities of IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps to help customers assure application performance and minimize costs by driving optimization across development, test and production environments.

"IBM continues to reshape its future as a hybrid cloud and AI company," said Rob Thomas, Senior Vice President, IBM Cloud and Data Platform. "The Turbonomic acquisition is yet another example of our commitment to making the most impactful investments to advance this strategy and ensure customers find the most innovative ways to fuel their digital transformations."

http://www.ibm.com

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Video: IBM builds a Cloud for Telecommunications

 

There are several key drivers for why carriers are moving to cloud infrastructures, including the acceleration of edge & 5G services, zero touch service automations, and operational modernization.  But can carriers justify the cost of this migration. Bill Lambertson, Vice President, 5G, Edge & Cloud Business, IBM, gives an overview of the IBM Cloud for Telecommunications, and why Red Hat OpenShift is a strategic advantage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtMVnZCO4Lk

Download the 2021 Telco Infrastructure Report here: http://ngi.how/telco-2021

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