Research Outline

A world without IBM

Goals

To have more data and stats on user and company usage and dependence on IBM products and services, and infer from that the impact on the world if IBM did not exist.

Early Findings

IBM Cloud

  • IBM has 60 worldwide Cloud Data Centers across six continents. A world without IBM would see people and companies using this service turning instead to other cloud services like Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud. IBM's cloud revenue is behind that of Amazon and Microsoft, so the impact if it didn't exist likely wouldn't be major.
  • IBM Cloud is used by 47 of the top 50 Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, ABN Amro, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Whirlpool. Other leading brands using the service include Ethiad ($700 million in revenue), EVRY ($1 billion in annual revenue), Finnair, ANZ and Columbia Pipeline.
  • IBM Cloud boasts various achievements, all of which would be mute if IBM didn't exist: It has one of the world's highest-volume IoT platforms in Weather.com, one of the largest commercial health data clouds, "one of the largest commercial video platforms with acquisitions of Ustream and ClearLeap, one of the largest providers of Spark-as-a-service, and it has the Data-as-a-Service marketplace
  • Over 100 companies are now selling products that were built using IBM's Watson cloud developer platform.
  • Some 112,000 apps are launched per month using IBM Cloud. Without IBM, either these apps wouldn't be developed, or they would be developed on other platforms.

IBM Software, Services, and Platforms

  • In 2016, IBM had a 2.51% share of the global enterprise applications market.
  • IBM Blockchain is, according to the company itself, the "global leader in improving trust and transparency across business networks by creating a new way for clients to share and secure data." IBM Blockchain powers over 500 client projects, with more than 85 active networks having an impact on supply chains, global shipping and cross-border finance.
  • IBM Security has 8,000 experts serving more than 17,000 clients in more than 130 countries

IBM Research and Development

  • In the US, IBM is playing a leading role in new product development. Last year, they spent $5 billion on research and development, which lead to thousands of "breakthrough innovations,." Of the 9,100 patents granted to IBM in 2018, around 1,600 AI-related and 1,400 had to do with cybersecurity. These were the highest figures for companies in both these areas. Therefore, without IBM; we could conclude that the world would have less AI and cybersecurity innovations.

Other Helpful IBM Stats

  • 351,000 people are employed by IBM. If the company didn't exist, these people would likely be out of a job, or working elsewhere.