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EY and Apptio, an IBM Company, to Deliver Joint Solutions for Enterprise Technology Spend Visibility and Management

LONDON, 24 September 2024 — The EY organization today announces an expansion of its work with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to leverage software from Apptio, an IBM Company. EY strategy and consulting experience, used in concert with Apptio software, can help enable organizations to focus their resources on their strategic priorities at all levels of the organization. Two new solutions, with another expected later this year, bring together the EY organization’s deep industry experience across Tax, Corporate Transactions, IT Financial Management and Cloud FinOps with Apptio’s powerful tools and insights to help customers effectively manage through the complexities of enterprise technology spend. These new solutions include:

EY Agile Planning & Portfolio Management: To help organizations realize value from their IT investments and resources, the EY organization, with support from IBM, has developed an integrated tooling, process and governance solution to better plan, budget, deliver and monitor strategic outcomes across product and portfolios. With methodologies currently in use by banking and financial services industry clients, the solution can help unlock IT capacity and redirect resources to priority technology investments in cyber, artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies.

EY Cloud FinOps and Apptio Recommendation Engine: Worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services is forecasted to grow 20.4% to total $678.8 billion in 2024 according to Gartner, creating challenges from maintaining operational efficiency, managing spend with greater transparency and reducing human-error inaccuracies. A new EY solution leveraging Apptio in cloud cost and operations management together can help clients right-size cloud investments, improve cost and operational transparency, and establish and track targets for sustainable consumption of cloud resources.

IT cost modeling for transactions: Expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2024, this solution will combine EY market-leading services in Strategy & Transactions, and Technology Transformation with Apptio Costing technology in a platform to model and manage transactions, transition services agreements and post-transaction transformation programs for corporate separations, large-scale mergers and private equity firms. The solution is expected to help reduce manual reporting efforts and improve visibility over large-scale transaction activities.

Anja Allen, Principal, Technology Consulting, Ernst & Young LLP, says:

“The EY organization and IBM have joined forces to find differentiated solutions to help our customers effectively manage through the complexities of enterprise technology spend. The solutions developed through this collaboration are distinctive from both a service and product perspective. The EY organization aims to enhance visibility into IT and cloud expenditure and streamline transaction modeling and analysis.”

Henrik Nilsson, Global VP of Partner Sales, Apptio, an IBM Company, says:

“Apptio’s innovations deliver technology business management and cost transparency. Collaborating with the EY organization’s experience in Strategy & Transactions, FinOps and cost excellence, these solutions can help clients seeking to get the most value from their enterprise spend.”

Terms and details of definitive agreements to establish the upcoming joint solution to be finalized. Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

About EY

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society, as well as building trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data, and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

UNDP and IBM Launch New Tools to Forecast Energy Access and Model Energy Equity

ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today launched new interactive models on energy within UNDP’s global GeoHub platform. These innovative solutions use technologies such as the IBM watsonx AI and data platform to enable users — from policymakers at the national and community level to the general public — to analyze complex energy issues through advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology and access a wide range of resources, helping support data-driven decision-making toward a just energy transition.

“Bringing together UNDP’s knowledge and global leadership in sustainable development and IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI and hybrid cloud, we are proud to unveil solutions that demonstrate the power of technology to make a lasting, positive impact on our environment and in our communities,” said Justina Nixon-Saintil, IBM Vice President and Chief Impact Officer. “By making innovative models freely accessible to the public, we aim to empower leaders, organizations and community members alike with the insights to make impactful energy decisions around the world.”

As part of UNDP’s Data Futures Exchange (DFx), GeoHub is a centralized ecosystem of geospatial data and services. It provides a platform to easily upload, visualize and analyze datasets, combining time-oriented and geographic data with satellite imagery. GeoHub supports a granular, localized, and evidence-based approach to development challenges and integrated policy making— from determining subnational distribution of electricity access, to assessing levels of vulnerability to the effects of climate change for communities over time.

“UNDP’s innovative collaboration with IBM helps countries leverage development data and technology innovation to improve lives and protect the planet. The solutions we’ve co-created provide a credible evidence base to help countries make meaningful and practical progress towards a just energy transition. Net-zero investment and people-centered development strategies are fundamental to accelerate the SDGs,” said Laurel Patterson, Head of the UNDP SDG Integration Team, UNDP Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

UNDP and IBM worked together over two years through the IBM Sustainability Accelerator program. This project started with a collaborative engagement through the IBM Garage, and resulted in the enhancement of UNDP’s GeoHub with two innovative models: the AI model Electricity Access Forecasting and the statistical geospatial model Clean Energy Equity Index.

  • The Electricity Access Forecasting AI model uses the IBM watsonx AI and data platform, IBM Cloud, and an open-source machine learning library to provide future forecasts at scale of electricity access through 2030 by evaluating a set of factors including population, infrastructure, urbanization, elevation, and satellite data in addition to land use data provided by IBM Environmental Intelligence. By modeling these factors to make a future forecast, the Electricity Access Forecasting model provides a distinct advantage compared to more commonly available, current-day estimates of electricity access. The model will contain data from 102 countries across the Global South, including in Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.
  • The Clean Energy Equity Index, developed by IBM and UNDP together with Stony Brook University, is a first-of-its-kind statistical geospatial model combining geospatial analytics with environmental, economic and social factors – such as education, greenhouse gas emissions, and relative wealth — to generate a Clean Energy Equity score of 0-1. This score reflects both opportunities for clean energy development as well as urgency, through the lens of equity and a just transition. In this dashboard, GeoHub users can also individually view and customize each environmental, economic, or social factor analyzed in the model, to evaluate which factors have the greatest impact on equitable access to clean energy, empowering better decision making. The model will provide data from 53 African countries.

Historically, advanced models like these have not always been freely accessible and applicable to all users. Together, IBM and UNDP set out to co-create solutions that would strengthen free public access to complex clean energy information and advanced technology, while simultaneously providing essential energy resources for policymakers, governments, journalists and decision makers.

About the IBM Sustainability Accelerator
Launched in 2022, the IBM Sustainability Accelerator is a social impact program that addresses environmental threats impacting vulnerable communities around the world. Each year, the program selects about five projects to scale technology and AI solutions within a new sustainability topic area. To date, the IBM Sustainability Accelerator has supported 15 global projects across three active cohorts, focused on sustainable agriculture, clean energy and water management. For more information: https://www.ibm.com/impact/initiatives/ibm-sustainability-accelerator/

About United Nations Development Programme
UNDP works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion, and build resilience so countries can sustain progress. As the UN’s development agency, UNDP plays a critical role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

IBM Launches New Services to Help Oracle Clients Extend Generative AI

ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced it has expanded its consulting services and solutions to help clients derive greater value from Oracle’s cloud applications and technology and extend generative AI with an open, orchestrated approach.

The average cost of compute spend is expected to increase by 89% between 2023 and 2025, according to new research from the IBM Institute for Business Value. In addition, 42% of executives report concern that inadequate expertise could preclude progress with generative AI.

To help clients address these growing challenges, IBM Consulting is launching an expanded network of consultants to support Oracle clients, including thousands of consultants worldwide who are certified across core Oracle technologies – such as OCI Generative AI, OCI AI Services, and OCI Data Science – as well as deeply skilled in the IBM watsonx AI and data platform.

The consultants will be committed to helping clients extend high value generative AI use cases coupled with traditional AI and automation solutions, aimed to maximize their return-on-investment and optimize compute and implementation costs. That includes helping clients choose and deploy the right fit-for-purpose AI models for their unique requirements, including enterprise-grade models such as IBM Granite, open source or other third-party models. With their deep skills in IBM watsonx and technologies from IBM’s open ecosystem of business partners, IBM consultants can help guide clients’ critical decisions around technology architecture, generative AI and software licensing, data and analytics architecture, security risks and more to enhance automation of their workflows and help establish a stronger and more cost-efficient technology foundation for developing and deploying generative AI applications.

In addition, IBM just announced its intent to acquire Accelalpha, a global Oracle services provider with deep expertise helping clients digitize core business operations and accelerate adoption of Oracle Cloud Applications, further expanding IBM’s Oracle consulting expertise.

“Our clients are eager to extend generative AI initiatives but they’re also concerned about rising compute costs, lack of in-house AI skills, AI assistant sprawl, and management oversight,” said Corinne Koppel, Global Oracle Practice Leader, IBM Consulting. “We’re proud to bring clients even more skills and solutions to help them optimize their investments with Oracle’s full stack generative AI technology leveraging an open architecture.”

Helping Extend Oracle Fusion Applications

IBM Consulting is already helping Oracle clients apply generative AI, traditional AI and automation in domain and industry-specific solutions to complement Oracle Fusion Applications’ embedded AI offerings. For example, IBM Consulting has helped Oracle Fusion Applications customers expand use cases in human resources, procurement and sourcing, finance and the public sector.

Accelerating clients’ time to value with IBM Consulting Advantage

IBM consultants supporting Oracle clients bring the power of the AI-powered engagement platform, IBM Consulting Advantage, to help accelerate clients’ time-to-value and improve consistency, repeatability, quality and speed-of-delivery.

For example, IBM Consulting has expanded its OCI migration and modernization capability with generative AI powered assets in IBM Consulting Advantage to help clients fast-track moving their applications and data to OCI. IBM consultants use an asset-first migration approach to support clients from discovery and design to build, migrate, test and deployment.

IBM and Oracle have a 38-year partnership spanning both technology and services, and continue to find new opportunities for collaboration like Red Hat and Oracle’s recent announcement of the availability of Red Hat OpenShift hybrid cloud application platform on OCI. Oracle is also part of the AI Alliance, which IBM co-founded in 2023. The AI Alliance brings together leading organizations across industry, startups, academia, research and government to support open innovation and open science in AI.

With deep industry expertise spanning strategy, experience design, technology, and operations, IBM Consulting is the catalyst for business transformation and the trusted partner to over 3,000 of the world’s most innovative and valuable companies. Our 160,000 consultants embrace an open way of working, bringing a diverse set of voices, experiences and technologies like hybrid cloud and AI together to accelerate business transformation. Supported by IBM Garage, our proven collaborative engagement model, we bring speed and scale to innovation with an enduring ecosystem of technology leaders to deliver solutions for some of the world’s most complex challenges.

Statements regarding IBM’s future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

IBM Brings Next Generation of AI-Powered Insights to ESPN Fantasy Football Platform

ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) and ESPN are unveiling enhancements to the ESPN Fantasy app – powered by generative AI technologies from IBM’s AI and data platform, watsonx – designed to deliver a more customized and engaging digital experience for more than 12 million fantasy football users. The announcement comes as new research commissioned by IBM and conducted by Morning Consult confirms fantasy football users are increasingly embracing AI to improve their rosters and overall fantasy football experiences.

Now available, the “Top Contributing Factors” within the Waiver Grade and Trade Grade features offers more detailed reasoning around a player’s assigned grades. The information appears as bulleted statements and is generated by IBM’s Granite large language model. The grades themselves are personalized to each team and produced by AI models built with IBM watsonx, taking into account large volumes of complex data including player performance, articles written by football experts, and the specific needs of each fantasy owner’s roster. Examples of the benefits to fantasy football participants include:

  • Personalized player grades based on each team’s needs
  • Transparent explanations of AI-generated player grades
  • Predictions of each player’s potential upside and downside

The new and updated features bolster a suite of IBM watsonx-powered tools, including Trade Analyzer with IBM watsonx and Player Insights with IBM watsonx, all of which transform large volumes of football data into insights that can help ESPN Fantasy Football users make more informed decisions about their lineups.

A new survey1 from IBM and Morning Consult of 500 fantasy football users in the United States confirms that surveyed fantasy football users are embracing AI-powered solutions to help enhance their lineups and overall league performances. Key highlights from respondents include:

  • Nearly 90% of users regularly engage with at least one AI or AI-related tool.
  • 82% confirmed they leverage trade and waiver suggestions to improve their fantasy lineups.
  • Of users not yet engaged with the technology, 92% surveyed indicated they would find AI helpful in their fantasy football efforts.

“Millions of people participate in fantasy football on the ESPN Fantasy platform each year, and they are constantly looking for the best information available to complete in and win their leagues. This year’s enhancements in the ESPN Fantasy platform put watsonx-powered insights directly in their hands, giving them access to  personalized, data-driven insights that help deliver on these expectations,” said Noah Syken VP, Sports and Entertainment Partnerships. “These same generative AI technologies on watsonx including IBM Granite are also at work for businesses across all sectors, turning complex information into actionable insights that modernize their workflows.”

Entering its eighth consecutive year, the collaboration between IBM and ESPN Fantasy Football continues to tap into the latest technologies from watsonx to transform football data into compelling and helpful information for fantasy team owners. This includes IBM’s Granite collection of large language models, as well as IBM watsonx Code Assistant which provides AI-generated coding recommendations and developer insights.

For more information on watsonx, visit: https://www.ibm.com/watsonx.

To play ESPN Fantasy Football, sign up at ESPN.com/FFL or download the ESPN Fantasy App from the App Store and Android stores.

1 Based on an online survey conducted in August 2024, among a sample of 500 Fantasy Football Users Ages 18 to 45 in the US.

IBM to Acquire Accelalpha, Leading Oracle Consultancy

ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced its intent to acquire Accelalpha, a global Oracle services provider with deep expertise helping clients digitize core business operations and accelerate adoption of Oracle Cloud Applications. This acquisition expands IBM’s Oracle consulting expertise in supply chain and logistics, finance, enterprise performance management (EPM) and customer transformation.

As Oracle applications have matured in depth of functionality, customers have prioritized working with more strategic services partners to enable transformation1. Upon close, Accelalpha will join IBM Consulting, bringing over a large global team of skilled consultants to help clients modernize with Oracle Cloud Applications.

“Many enterprises depend on Oracle to run the workflows that are at the heart of their enterprise,” said Kelly Chambliss, Senior Vice President, IBM Consulting, Americas. “With our acquisition of Accelalpha, IBM will be even better positioned to help our clients deploy and manage Oracle solutions, including generative AI and cloud technology, for competitive advantage.”

Headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, Accelalpha is a leading global provider of Oracle Cloud Applications consulting across advisory, implementation and managed services. Its highly skilled team serves clients across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America, with a focus on distribution, industrial and financial services sectors.

Accelalpha’s consultants bring expertise across the Oracle Cloud Applications Suite including Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Logistics, Oracle Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Oracle Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Oracle Cloud Customer Transformation (CX), and Oracle Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ). As an Oracle Cloud Excellence Certified Implementer, Accelalpha boasts the largest Oracle logistics practice globally and was the first Oracle partner to implement Oracle Fusion Financials. Since its founding in 2009, Accelalpha has grown organically and through acquisition. Notable past acquisitions include Prolog Partners, Key Performance Ideas, LogistiChange and Frontera Consulting.

“IBM’s client and employee-centric culture and long-established scale and reach in more than 175 countries is a great fit for the next stage of our growth,” said Nat Ganesh, CEO, Accelalpha. “We’re thrilled to bring our expertise in Oracle Cloud solutions and targeted domain and industry knowledge to bear together with IBM’s strength in generative AI and hybrid cloud. With Accelalpha’s history of being a pioneer in Oracle Cloud and IBM’s deep-rooted dedication to innovation that matters, we can further accelerate value creation for our clients.”

IBM and Oracle’s partnership to serve clients spans almost 40 years. IBM was named a Leader in the 2023 IDC MarketScape for Oracle Implementation Services Ecosystem Worldwide2.

Accelalpha is recognized by Fortune as a best medium workplace and certified as a Great Place to Work. For more information on Accelalpha, please visit www.accelalpha.com.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

IBM Study: C-Suite Confidence in Delivering Basic IT Services Wanes, While Tech CxOs Focus on Gen AI Demands

– CEO confidence in the effectiveness of basic IT services nearly halves over 10 years
– 43% of surveyed tech CxOs say concerns about their technology infrastructure have increased because of generative AI

ARMONK, N.Y., Aug. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A new IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value study found that while IT leaders are preparing organizations for accelerated generative AI adoption, C-suite executives’ confidence in their IT team’s ability to deliver basic services is declining.

The global study* of 2,500 of C-level technology executives (tech CxOs) from 34 countries revealed that less than half (47%) of those surveyed think their IT organization is effective in basic services compared to 69% surveyed in 2013. Today, only 36% of surveyed CEOs and 50% of surveyed CFOs believe IT is effective at basic services, down from 64% and 60%, respectively since 2013.

At the same time, 43% of surveyed tech CxOs say their concerns about their technology infrastructure have increased over the past six months because of generative AI, and they are now focused on optimizing their infrastructure for scaling generative AI. Respondents report they are currently spending 29% more on hybrid cloud than AI, and, over the next two years, they expect to spend half (50%) their budget on hybrid cloud and AI combined.

As tech CxOs prioritize generativeAI-ready infrastructure investments, two-thirds of surveyed CEOs cite that a strong tech CxO and CFO collaboration is critical to their organization’s success. However, a disconnect exists: only 39% of surveyed tech CxOs say they collaborate with finance to embed tech metrics into business cases, and just 35% of surveyed CFOs report being engaged early in IT planning to set strategic expectations. Among the high-performing tech CxO respondents, the study found that organizations that connect technology investments to measurable business outcomes report 12% higher revenue growth.

“Tech leaders today are grappling with multiple business demands, made even more complicated by the rise of generative AI. They must navigate the challenges of modernizing their IT infrastructure and scaling generative AI to support the business’ core competitive advantage, ” said Mohamad Ali, Senior Vice President, IBM Consulting. “In this evolving AI landscape, the relationship between tech CxOs and their finance counterparts has never been more important, aligning technology spend with business outcomes to drive real value from AI investments.”

Responsible AI is top of mind for tech CxOs, but there is a gap between intention and actions

  • For the majority (80%) of CEOs surveyed, transparency in their organization’s use of next-generation technologies, such as generative AI, is critical for fostering trust.
  • Yet, most tech CxOs acknowledge their organizations are falling short on delivering core responsible AI practices at scale:
    • Only half (50%) of respondents say they are delivering on key responsible AI capabilities for explainability, and even fewer say they are delivering capabilities for privacy (46%), transparency (45%) and fairness (37%).
  • 41% of tech CxOs surveyed reported an increase in their concerns about regulation and compliance as a barrier to generative AI over the last six months.
  •  However, most (70%) tech CxO respondents see regulatory change as an opportunity versus only 50% of CEOs.

Tech CxOs are driving their organizations to rethink their talent strategy to meet the needs of the generative AI era

  • 63% of tech CxOs surveyed agree that their competitiveness will hinge on their ability to attract, develop and retain top talent.
  • However, 58% of tech CxOs surveyed say they are having difficulty filling key technology roles, and only 27% of respondents identify talent as a top priority.
    • Over the next 3 years, tech executives anticipate a surge in skill scarcities over key areas, including cloud (+36%), AI (+29%), security (+25%) and privacy (+39%).
    • 40% of respondents report an increase in their concern over the past six months.
    • More than half (54%) of tech CxOs surveyed blame financial pressures for hindering their ability to invest in technology talent.
  • Many tech CxOs surveyed (69%) say they are turning to business partners as a source for specialized skills

To view the full study, including recommendations for technology leaders, visit: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/report/cxo

*Study Methodology
The IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV), in cooperation with Oxford Economics, surveyed 2,500 C-suite technology leaders, including Chief Technology Officers (CTOs), Chief Information Officers (CIOs), and Chief Data Officers (CDOs) from 34 countries and 26 industries during Q1 2024. The IBM IBV data analytics team performed a series of in-depth analyses and data transformations to identify a group of high-performing technology organizations corresponding to clear outperformance on a variety of financial and operational measures. The study also includes data from the 2024 CEO Study and upcoming 2024 CFO Study.

The IBM Institute for Business Value, IBM’s thought leadership think tank, combines global research and performance data with expertise from industry thinkers and leading academics to deliver insights that make business leaders smarter. For more world-class thought leadership, visit: www.ibm.com/ibv.

IBM-Developed Algorithms Announced as NIST’s First Published Post-Quantum Cryptography Standards

As quantum computers rapidly advance, U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes new algorithms, including those developed by IBM, in collaboration with industry partners, to secure data against potential quantum attacks

YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Aug. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Two IBM-developed algorithms (NYSE: IBM) have been officially published among the first three post-quantum cryptography standards, announced today by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The standards include three post-quantum cryptographic algorithms: two of them, ML-KEM (originally known as CRYSTALS-Kyber) and ML-DSA (originally CRYSTALS-Dilithium) were developed by IBM researchers in collaboration with several industry and academic partners. The third published algorithm, SLH-DSA (initially submitted as SPHINCS+) was co-developed by a researcher who has since joined IBM. Additionally, a fourth IBM-developed algorithm, FN-DSA (originally called FALCON), has been selected for future standardization.

The official publication of these algorithms marks a crucial milestone to advancing the protection of the world’s encrypted data from cyberattacks that could be attempted through the unique power of quantum computers, which are rapidly progressing to cryptographic relevancy. This is the point at which quantum computers will harness enough computational power to break the encryption standards underlying most of the world’s data and infrastructure today.

“IBM’s mission in quantum computing is two-fold: to bring useful quantum computing to the world and to make the world quantum-safe. We are excited about the incredible progress we have made with today’s quantum computers, which are being used across global industries to explore problems as we push towards fully error-corrected systems,” said Jay Gambetta, Vice President, IBM Quantum. “However, we understand these advancements could herald an upheaval in the security of our most sensitive data and systems. NIST’s publication of their first three post-quantum cryptography standards marks a significant step in efforts to build a quantum-safe future alongside quantum computing.”

As an entirely new branch of computing, quantum computers are quickly accelerating to useful and large-scale systems, as evidenced by the hardware and software milestones achieved and planned on IBM’s Quantum Development Roadmap. For example, IBM projects it will deliver its first error-corrected quantum system by 2029. This system is anticipated to run hundreds of millions of quantum operations to return accurate results for complex and valuable problems that are currently inaccessible to classical computers. Looking further into the future, IBM’s roadmap includes plans to expand this system to run upwards of one billion quantum operations by 2033. As IBM builds towards these goals, the company has already equipped experts across healthcare and life sciences; finance; materials development; logistics; and other fields with utility-scale systems to begin applying and scaling their most pressing challenges to quantum computers as they advance.

However, the advent of more powerful quantum computers could carry risks to today’s cybersecurity protocols. As their levels of speed and error correction abilities grow, they are also likely to encompass the ability to break today’s most used cryptographic schemes, such as RSA, which has long protected global data. Beginning with work started several decades ago, IBM’s team of the world’s foremost cryptographic experts continue to lead the industry in the development of algorithms to protect data against future threats, which are now positioned to eventually replace today’s encryption schemes.

NIST’s newly published standards are designed to safeguard data exchanged across public networks, as well as for digital signatures for identity authentication. Now formalized, they will set the standard as the blueprints for governments and industries worldwide to begin adopting post-quantum cybersecurity strategies.

In 2016, NIST asked cryptographers worldwide to develop and submit new, quantum-safe cryptographic schemes to be considered for future standardization. In 2022, four out of the 69 algorithms that were submitted for review were chosen for future standardization: CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, Falcon, and SPHINCS+.

In addition to continued evaluations to publish Falcon as the fourth official standard, NIST is continuing to identify and evaluate additional algorithms to diversify its toolkit of post-quantum cryptographic algorithms, including several others developed by IBM researchers. IBM cryptographers are among those pioneering the expansion of these tools, including three newly submitted digital signatures schemes that have already been accepted for consideration by NIST and are undergoing the initial round of evaluation.

Toward its mission to make the world quantum-safe, IBM continues to integrate post-quantum cryptography into many of its own products, such as IBM z16 and IBM Cloud. In 2023, the company unveiled the IBM Quantum Safe roadmap, a three-step blueprint to chart the milestones towards increasingly advanced quantum-safe technology, and defined by phases of discovery, observation, and transformation. Alongside this roadmap, the company also introduced IBM Quantum Safe technology and IBM Quantum Safe Transformation Services to support clients in their journeys to becoming quantum safe. These technologies include the introduction of Cryptography Bill of Materials (CBOM), a new standard to capture and exchange information about cryptographic assets in software and systems.

For more information about the IBM Quantum Safe technology and services, visit: https://www.ibm.com/quantum/quantum-safe.

IBM Consulting and Microsoft Collaborate to Help Clients Modernize Security Operations and Protect Against Cloud Identity Threats

ARMONK, N.Y., July 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft announce strengthened cybersecurity collaboration to help clients simplify and modernize their security operations, and manage and protect their hybrid cloud identities.

As organizations embrace hybrid cloud and AI to drive innovation, they require advanced security capabilities to protect their most valuable data. By combining IBM Consulting’s industry-leading cybersecurity services with Microsoft’s comprehensive security technology portfolio, the two companies are providing clients the tools and expertise needed to help them simplify and modernize their end-to-end security operations, harness the power of the cloud, protect data, and drive business growth.

“To successfully navigate the ever-evolving and increasingly complex digital landscape, security can no longer be an afterthought – it must be a foundational part of every organization’s core operations,” said Mark Hughes, Global Managing Partner of Cybersecurity Services, IBM Consulting. “Our collaboration with Microsoft provides clients with a simplified, efficient, and cost-effective approach to protect cloud workloads, and effectively manage the proliferation of threats organizations confront on a regular basis.”

Modernizing security operations
IBM’s Threat Detection and Response (TDR) Cloud Native service brings together Microsoft Sentinel, Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Defender for Cloud with the AI-powered security technologies that underpin IBM’s TDR Cloud Native service to help accelerate threat detection and response for clients.

As part of the service, IBM Consulting’s global team of security analysts provide 24/7 monitoring, investigation, and automated remediation of security alerts across clients’ hybrid cloud environments. IBM Consulting can also help clients transform their security operations to maximize the value of Microsoft’s end-to-end security solutions.

By leveraging the full range of Microsoft’s security portfolio, the TDR Cloud Native service effectively protects Microsoft cloud environments for clients. In recognition of its tight integration with the Microsoft Security platform, the service achieved Microsoft MXDR verified solution status.

Managing and securing cloud identities
Cloud identity is becoming an increasingly important cornerstone of any organization’s cyber strategy, but it’s complicated by the wide range of tools, services, and approaches available. To assist clients in navigating this complex environment, IBM Consulting and Microsoft collaborated on a comprehensive solution based on the foundation provided by the Microsoft Entra® suite of tools and enhanced by IBM’s range of automation, accelerators and industry domain knowledge. The solution is designed to protect the cloud journey, while also optimizing the identity landscape and costs associated with running multiple identity tools and services, resulting in a more optimized, cost effective, and secured service for clients.

“As digital transformation accelerates across every industry, organizations require a comprehensive, unified approach to cloud security that protects their entire enterprise from the chip to the cloud,” said Alym Rayani, VP Security Marketing, at Microsoft. “Our partnership with IBM Consulting makes it easier for clients to securely harness the power of the cloud and AI to drive business innovation.”

Co-investing in skilling
The IBM Consulting and Microsoft collaboration builds on the companies’ long history of joint development and delivery of enterprise-class cloud and security solutions. IBM Consulting and Microsoft are investing in joint go-to-market initiatives and reskilling programs to support the new offerings and help clients bring security to the forefront of their cloud and AI journeys.  For example, IBM Consulting’s 1,300 Microsoft certified security practitioners have been trained on natively embedding Microsoft-based security tools, including the Microsoft Defender suite and services, throughout clients’ complex cloud and application landscape.

Demonstrating client success
Vale, mining company: “At Vale, our cyber defense centre team orchestrates protection, detection and response functions with the support of two industry-leading cybersecurity partners, combining the best of Microsoft security technology with the continuous improvement from IBM Consulting’s Threat Detection and Response Services,” said Dan Harif, Global CISO, Vale.

IBM Completes Acquisition of StreamSets and webMethods, Bolstering its Automation, Data and AI Portfolios

ARMONK, N.Y., July 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has completed its acquisition of StreamSets and webMethods from Software AG after receiving all required regulatory approvals. The acquisition brings together leading capabilities in integration, API management and data ingestion.

The acquisition builds on IBM’s extensive software portfolio, with StreamSets adding new data ingestion capabilities to IBM’s AI and data platform, and webMethods bringing Integration Platform as a Service (iPaas) capabilities to IBM’s Automation solutions. IBM’s clients and partners will now have access to one of the most modern and comprehensive application and data integration platforms in the industry to drive innovation and prepare business for AI.

Organizations are facing an explosion of apps, APIs, events and data spread across hybrid cloud environments worldwide. In fact, IDC estimates that 1 billion new applications are expected by 2028 due to the rapid emergence of generative AI1. As organizations continue their digital transformation journeys, application and data integration solutions are critical for application modernization and effectively deploying AI across the enterprise.

StreamSets and webMethods currently serve more than 1,500 companies across the globe and will provide additional integration technologies for next-generation AI applications that require data and connectivity to everything, everywhere. And, the industry is continuing to grow, with IDC predicting the worldwide integration software market to exceed $18.0 billion in 20272.

“This is an important acquisition for IBM as we help our clients turn complexities into competitive advantage,” said Dinesh Nirmal, Senior Vice President, Products, IBM Software. “StreamSets and webMethods bring new capabilities to our clients to embrace data and AI to better manage the growth and complexity of applications. We will empower integrators, developers, and line of business IT to build and manage integrations at an even greater and more impactful scale.”

StreamSets adds cloud-based, real-time data ingestion capabilities for various types of data to watsonx, IBM’s AI and data platform.  Data ingestion helps move massive amounts of data from multiple sources to a centralized storage center where it can then be utilized by other systems/applications. When that data moves between sources and targets, streaming tools like StreamSets provide updated data in real-time to target destinations. This hybrid and multi-cloud ready product, which IBM plans to embed as a premium feature in watsonx.data, makes it easier for users to ingest, enrich, and harness the potential of streaming data enabled through features like offset handling and delivery guarantees.

StreamSets will also further extend the breadth and depth of IBM’s Data Fabric and Data Integration capabilities through enabling the design of streaming data pipelines. It will complement IBM DataStage and Databand into a deeply integrated offering for data engineers, catering to multiple patterns of data integrated, infused with data observability capabilities. IBM plans to make StreamSets available across all major hyperscalers, including GCP (current) and Azure/AWS (in-progress), as well as on-premises.

webMethods helps organizations manage the tangled web of systems, applications and data silos within business environments. The webMethods Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) enables users to deploy and execute integrations anywhere, while still including outputs in unified integration flows. This helps global organizations meet local data sovereignty requirements while driving enterprise-wide innovation and taking advantage of centralized management.

IBM plans to extend the webMethods iPaaS to support the IBM integration products, giving current customers a path to multi-cloud hybrid integration.  By supporting various patterns of integration, including applications, APIs, events, and B2B, IBM will help enable users to compose modern, unified, and seamless applications and services.

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale Accelerates Deployment of Generative AI in Collaboration with IBM

STRASBOURG, France and ARMONK, N.Y., June 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, a pioneer in the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) since 2016, invests in cutting-edge technologies. Used every day by its 25,000 advisors, AI freed up nearly 1 million hours of administrative work in 2023 to enable them to continue to best serve their members and clients.

Operating as a sovereign technology bank, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale stands out for its ability to carry out almost all of this IT processing in its own datacenters — an approach underpinned by the historic collaboration established between the teams of Euro-Information, the mutualist group’s technology subsidiary, and IBM (NYSE: IBM).

To maintain its lead in artificial intelligence, Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale and Euro-Information are expanding their long-term collaboration with IBM via its IBM watsonx platform — an AI and data platform designed to help businesses develop responsible AI — deployed on Credit Mutuel’s in-house computing infrastructure. This collaboration will make it possible to accelerate and industrialize the deployment of generative AI.

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale plans to rely on in-house developments and on watsonx to progressively deploy thirty-five AI use cases in Crédit Mutuel and CIC networks, with planned availability for the first set this summer. The mutualist group is also testing the InstructLab technique, jointly developed by IBM and Red Hat, to allow it to design models specific to its field of activity using its own data.

“For the past eight years, the success of our collaboration with IBM in artificial intelligence technologies has demonstrated the relevance of our strategy combining mutualist commitment and innovation. With watsonx, the Euro-Information and IBM teams gathered within the Cognitive Factory are working on the industrialization of 35 new use cases to enable our banking advisors to always offer the best possible services to our customers and members,” indicates Éric Petitgand, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale.

“Because banking is a technological business, it is essential to constantly innovate in order to master the technologies of the future. Our collaboration with IBM is all the more strategic as the InstructLab technique will enable us to adapt generative AI to our pioneering commitments to ethical and trustworthy AI that meets the specific needs of our company,” says Frantz Rublé, President of Euro-Information.

“We are delighted to expand our collaboration with Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale. watsonx will allow them to bring cutting-edge generative AI capabilities to improve the customer experience,” adds Sebastian Krause, SVP and Chief Revenue Officer, IBM Corporation.

“Our strategic collaboration with the Crédit Mutuel Group and Euro-Information is thus further strengthened around three pillars: technological innovation, acceleration of transformation, and talent development,” concludes Jean-Philippe Desbiolles, IBM Managing Director for Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale.

Generative AI for enhanced customer relations with the dedicated local advisor

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale has relied since its creation on technology to best serve its customers and members. In collaboration with IBM Consulting, Euro-Information’s Cognitive Factory has already massively deployed several cutting-edge artificial intelligence solutions, including for customer experience, risk management and compliance, support for account managers and document understanding.

Building on its know-how, Euro-Information will develop 35 AI use cases on an industrial scale, relying on in-house developments and on watsonx. Three initial generative AI solutions are expected to be deployed in the third quarter, enabling advisors to respond even more efficiently to the needs of their customers and members. In addition to MonIA, a broad catalog of AI-based services (document synthesis, transcription of appointments, etc.), they could benefit from templates for replying to customer emails, as well as an AI assistant providing personalized responses to help them with their assignments. A fourth pilot will support the Group’s IT development employees.

Managing the value chain for building ethical and trustworthy AI

Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, via the Chambre Syndicale et Interfédérale – its parliament made up of elected members and employees – has adopted a charter for trustworthy AI. This charter sets out commitments that govern the use of AI. IBM’s watsonx.governance will help Euro-Information implement them.

In this context, the governance of the mutualist group places AI at the service of human beings: elected representatives, employees, members and customers. It ensures strict respect for digital privacy. Bringing transparent and documented use of AI, it favors the most sober technological solutions and ensures that the principle of pooling banking and insurance offers is perpetuated to guarantee the interests of members and customers.

These collective choices are made possible because Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale operates as a sovereign industrial bank. In this respect, almost all IT processing is carried out on its own datacenters located in France and Europe, using software over which it has full control.