IBM Korea will start to target the AI-based automation business market in full. Based on specialized solutions and technologies such as AI, data, and robotic process automation (RPA), it will focus on enterprise markets such as finance, manufacturing, and telecommunication. On the 12th, IBM Korea held an online press conference and shared major AI automation business cases and strategies.
Mike Gilfix, Vice President of IBM's AI Automation Business Global, said, “McKinsey’s research shows that digital transformation is happening very fast, as the corporate effort put into business channel digitization projects over the past year is comparable to that of the past decade. Many companies are still slow in digitization due to disconnected operations across departments, inefficient processes, technologies, and IT complexity.” He noted, “In order for firms to overcome problems and achieve complete digital transformation, they need to focus on 3 areas: business automation, integration, and IT automation.IBM supports enterprise automation based on 'IBM Cloud Pack for Automation' suite, an integrated software set based on Red Hat OpenShift.”
In the past year, IBM has solidified its portfolio by acquiring specialized firms to secure leadership in the AI-based automation business. Last July, it acquired WDG Automation, a Brazilian RPA startup. In October, it expanded its partnership with ServiceNow to reduce business risks and costs by adopting and automating AI in IT operations. In November, it acquired Instana, a company that supports App performance management and identification, and in June this year, it acquired Turbonomic, anApp resource management and network performance management software company.
In Korea, IBM has secured major cases by expanding the supply of AI automation solutions. Hanmi Pharm applied IBM's RPA solution to business support such as purchasing and finance. It simplified the process and achieving work efficiency by resolving tedious and repetitive tasks and by assigning its employees to major tasks that require complex and delicate human skills. Hanmi Pharmaceutical introduced IBM’s RPA solution to over 50 tasks, saving more than 50,000 hours of work a year and more than 1 billionKRW in costs.
For LG U+, it was important to seamlessly link technology between departments or companies using different platforms and apps. Among IBM Cloud Pack for Integration, it adopted app programming environment (API) Connect to manage the entire life cycle of API development, testing, deployment, and disposal. By building a developer portal that secures security and visibility for APIs used by outside partners, LG U+ also enhanced the efficiency of business collaboration.
“IBM’s strength is not only in solutions, but also in its ability to understand the characteristics of an enterprise company in a variety of IT operation experiences and to propose solutions and platforms that fit it,” said Kim Chang-hoe, managing director of IBM Korea. “We will target multiple enterprises, but focus more on finance, manufacturing, and telecommunications.” Vice President Gilfixsaid, “The demand for corporate automation has increased since COVID-19, so AI automation is applied to all sectors of a company. We will provide the technology and know-how to introduce AI automation to anyone regardless of the company size or technology level.”
By Jiseon Kim, Staff Reporter / river@etnews.com