IBM Singapore will announce plans today to expand the company's consulting and systems integration business to become a partner for customers in the field of Application Management Services (AMS).

Speaking to BizIT yesterday, IBM's Singapore managing director, Teresa Lim said the company's consulting and systems integration and AMS solutions are important elements of its services capabilities to 'deliver greater business value to clients'.

AMS is a suite of services that encompass, among others, project management and business analysis, (project) requirements definition and maintenance as well as deployment and support.

Ms Lim told BizIT that AMS helps clients to identify areas for relevant innovation. 'It leverages on technologies that accelerate the delivery of business objectives and provides clients with future roadmaps (for growth).'

IBM expects demand for these services to be sustained in Singapore by the electronics, financial services and healthcare sectors, Ms Lim said.

According to Natalie Wan, IDC Asia Pacific's senior research manager for services research, from 2005 to 2006, IBM grew its consulting and systems integration and AMS revenues in Singapore by 5.5 per cent and 58 per cent respectively. 'This was largely contributed by increased signings with government and banking clients,' she added.

IBM's Ms Lim observed that clients in Singapore are looking to improve business efficiency and realise tangible business outcomes. They are also evolving their business models to enable innovation and long-term growth, she added.

'IBM offers clients its global experience in managing complex services projects, robust methodologies and technical expertise,' she noted. 'These are the capabilities which have helped propel IBM to become the world's leading consulting and systems integration provider.'

To back her statement, Ms Lim quoted an October 2006 study in which IDC reported that IBM held the No 1 position in worldwide AMS revenue.

'In a November 2006 report, Gartner ranked IBM as the world's leading consulting and systems integration provider and reported that it held a 7.7 per cent market share in 2005 with more than US$18 billion in revenue, more than US$8 billion clear of its nearest rival,' Ms Lim added. In Singapore, the company's AMS clients include semiconductor companies, leading banks and Singapore Health Services (SingHealth).

Talking about SingHealth, the IBM official said that the healthcare group made a strategic decision to standardise the hardware platform and software environment of its various institutions, with the aim of enhancing operational efficiency and patient care delivery. 'It commissioned IBM Global Business Services to consolidate and integrate the varied IT infrastructure into a single platform to support group-wide operations (and) it also outsourced the application management of the data centre to IBM Global Business Services.'

SingHealth's assistant director of infotech Lim Soo Tong, said his organisation had benefited from IBM's project management and consulting services expertise. 'They have a good understanding of our business . . .Tthe consolidation, integration and standardisation of our IT environment are aimed at optimising management decision-making, enhancing the operations of our various institutions, and creating a seamless information flow for better patient care delivery,' he said.

Touching on future areas of growth, IBM's Ms Lim said that the electronics sector, which is working on improving data visibility and information sharing across the supply chain, presents good opportunities for the company.

Also, the financial services sector is enhancing service delivery to 'empower customers to manage their accounts conveniently and to expand customer choices'.

She added that the healthcare sector is also integrating their IT infrastructure so as to have a more detailed view of patient data across clinical and hospital information systems, which will help to reduce the time for clinical diagnosis and treatment and reduce the safety risks due to a lack of information.

All these sectors present opportunities for IBM to grow its consulting and systems integration and AMS business in Singapore, she added.

This article first appeared in BT on February 15, 2007