Rational and IBM have focused on IT organizations

Rational software has evolved over the years with

significant acquisitions. What kind of integration challenges did IBM face?



IBM has now done over hundred acquisitions, and it has by now perfected this

fine art. Before acquiring any company, IBM looks at whether the company is a

strategic fit, as well as provides a lift within a short time frame. Secondly,

IBM commits a certain amount of resources to make sure that acquisitions become

successful. We have a team, led by senior integration executives, to ensure that

the acquisition is successful. It looks at all aspectsregulatory, finance,

legal, HR, technology, products, support, and other things. These are the

factors behind the high rate of success of all IBMs acquisitions.

Can you share more details on what value proposition

Telelogic brings to the table?



Telelogic was a brilliant acquisition by IBM, not only in terms of its vision,
but in terms of its executions also. What Telelogic provided uniquely to IBM was

a growth for our business, which is scalable. So, Rational and IBM have been

traditionally focused on IT organizations, CIOs. What Telelogic provided was a

new set of audience for a line of businessengineering with a completely

separate budget, separate acquisition process, separate language, separate

mindset. It allows IBM to strategically expand from IT to a new line of

business. With this acquisition, IBM is now in a position to offer a more

comprehensive portfolio, that includes defining, modeling, building, testing,

and delivering the software for industries, such as aerospace and defense,

telecommunications, electronics, automotive.

What developer communities engagements IBM has around

Rational?



IBM takes tremendous amount of effort in developing communities, and there

are initiatives like developer works websitejazz.net. Then there are beta

programs, unleash the labs, and advance technologies programs; and depending on

the profile of the audience we have got different vehicles to engage with them.

What kind of partner network IBM has for Rational

software?



Increasingly, partner network will become a critical part of Rational

portfolio. We provide tremendous value in providing an end-to-end integrated

platform. But even with IBMs reach, we cannot reach out to major segments of

the market. We depend very critically on our partner network to be able to take

this platform, and add value, and provide real solutions into micro segments.

Sudesh Prasad



sudeshp@cybermedia.co.in