AGL 38.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.03 (-2.6%)
AIRLINK 128.50 Decreased By ▼ -2.72 (-2.07%)
BOP 6.96 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (2.2%)
CNERGY 4.56 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-3.18%)
DCL 8.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.24 (-2.84%)
DFML 39.50 Decreased By ▼ -1.97 (-4.75%)
DGKC 79.50 Decreased By ▼ -2.59 (-3.16%)
FCCL 31.90 Decreased By ▼ -1.20 (-3.63%)
FFBL 70.55 Decreased By ▼ -2.32 (-3.18%)
FFL 12.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.24%)
HUBC 108.75 Decreased By ▼ -1.99 (-1.8%)
HUMNL 13.69 Decreased By ▼ -0.82 (-5.65%)
KEL 4.94 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-4.82%)
KOSM 7.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.71%)
MLCF 37.75 Decreased By ▼ -1.15 (-2.96%)
NBP 68.00 Increased By ▲ 3.99 (6.23%)
OGDC 188.05 Decreased By ▼ -4.77 (-2.47%)
PAEL 24.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.88 (-3.43%)
PIBTL 7.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.54%)
PPL 148.50 Decreased By ▼ -5.57 (-3.62%)
PRL 24.78 Decreased By ▼ -1.05 (-4.07%)
PTC 17.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.81 (-4.55%)
SEARL 79.55 Decreased By ▼ -2.75 (-3.34%)
TELE 7.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.32 (-4.12%)
TOMCL 32.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.76 (-2.27%)
TPLP 8.24 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-2.94%)
TREET 16.75 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.78%)
TRG 56.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.96 (-1.67%)
UNITY 27.95 Increased By ▲ 0.44 (1.6%)
WTL 1.31 Decreased By ▼ -0.06 (-4.38%)
BR100 10,374 Decreased By -130.9 (-1.25%)
BR30 30,573 Decreased By -653.5 (-2.09%)
KSE100 97,066 Decreased By -1013.5 (-1.03%)
KSE30 30,238 Decreased By -320.7 (-1.05%)

IBM expects its China business consulting unit to almost double in size within a year to cater for increasing demands from local firms despite the economic slowdown, a senior executive said. In order to be close to clients the number of offices of the IBM Global Business Services (GBS) unit will grow to 10 from six now within the next 12 months, said Marc Chapman, the general manager of GBS, Greater China Group.
-- Clients to focus on internal adjustment
-- Eyes tapping into infrastructure sector
"We believe its vital to be close to your clients," Chapman told Reuters in an interview. The GBS arm will open the four additional offices having established its Nanjing and Shenzhen branches earlier this year, Chapman said. IBMs business consulting arm now serves more than 100 clients in China, with over half of them Chinese firms, including telecoms equipment maker Huawei and state-owned resource firm China Minmetals Corporation.
Facing a slowdown in the broad economy, some Chinese firms are now refocusing on managing their existing business instead of expanding, aiming to emerge stronger when the market turns.
Chapman said many of GBSs clients are telling him: "Hey, well pause; we wont build so much this year. But well integrate everything we have and get more out of it." In 2008 revenues generated from the GBS segment were $19.6 billion, roughly 19 percent of total revenue of the Armonk, New York-headquartered firm. Chapman did not give a comparable figure for the region he is in charge of.
With governments across the world spending money to stimulate economies more investments will be made in infrastructure and GBS will actively seek opportunities in the sector in China, Chapman said. Beijing unveiled late last year a sweeping 4-trillion yuan stimulus package of spending over the next two years, with a large portion of the funds targeting infrastructure projects such as railways and roads.
"We are very supportive of finding areas where we can really provide support, add value to either the government or companies," Chapman said. He cited its business with Guangzhou Metro as an example. The subway operator has selected IBM to provide a system to manage all of the firms assets with a target of doubling its passenger volume to 4 million per day.

Copyright Reuters, 2009

Comments

Comments are closed.