IBM and the Social Analytics Push
July 25, 2013
IBM is fashionably late to the social-media-analytics game, and Slashdot touches on some factors that pose a challenge to the tech giant in, “IBM Pushing New Social Analytics Software.” Writer Nick Kolakowski informs us that the company is launching several new cloud-based social tools, including its Social Media Analytics platform.
The article asserts the new tools are a response to Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud, and suggests that Google‘s and Oracle‘s forays into social analytics similarly prodded IBM. However, I suspect the company has been eyeing the social space for some time, but felt no compunction to rush in before it was ready.
Kolakowski enumerates some of the obstructions for IBM in this arena:
“But IBM faces a crowded marketplace, with new and well-funded competitors arising from unexpected directions. Last week, reports emerged that IBM is locked in battle with Amazon over a cloud-computing contract for the CIA. Although Amazon boasts a well-established presence as a provider of cloud services to businesses, it’s a relative newcomer to the federal-computing space where IBM has operated comfortably for years; and given its technology and resources, it could definitely give IBM some headaches if the two end up fighting for the same contracts.
“If that wasn’t enough, IBM faces a new challenge from GE, which is rapidly expanding into healthcare analytics and the so-called ‘Industrial Internet.’ Given GE’s capitalization and reputation for innovation, it could also go toe-to-toe with IBM for customers.”
Yes, IBM has competition in the social media arena, and it will be interesting to see how it moves forward here. Even if it does not dominate the market, Big Blue is sure to capture a wedge of the pie (chart) large enough to keep it satisfied.
Cynthia Murrell, July 25, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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