IBM today announced the launch of its London-based IBM London Analytics Solution Centre, the latest addition to its global network of analytics centres.

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As part of a global multi-million pound investment initiative(1), this newly-created centre will help IBM apply its advanced analytics expertise to the complex business challenges facing its UK-based clients.

Leveraging its London location and IBM's deep industry expertise, the centre's initial mission will be to focus on the UK financial services sector. It will help IBM's financial sector clients to develop systems that provide improved visibility and tracking of risk positions across markets and asset classes, as well as to drive information management to support improved client satisfaction and cost efficiencies.

Over time, the centre will expand to help clients across other areas of business. These include: energy and utilities companies, as they seek to roll out smart grids and intelligent metering; public sector organisations, as they develop smart city and transportation initiatives that reduce congestion and improve public safety; and, pharmaceuticals firms as they introduce smarter ways to improve the speed and quality of drug development.

The centre will be the focal point for a UK & Ireland analytics team which will initially number a total of 400 consultants, software specialists and mathematicians. It is anticipated that the team will double in size as demand for business analytics and optimisation services increases.

"Today's business leaders need to move beyond intuition to insight, from gut feel to facts - it is now possible to see key patterns in vast amounts of data, to extract critical insights and move to a new level of intelligence," said Brendon Riley, Chief Executive, IBM UK and Ireland. "London was chosen due to its status as a global financial centre and world-class skills base. Business analytics offers an opportunity for us to help clients transform the way they operate - enabling them to become smarter and improving levels of competitiveness."

The centre will be based at IBM's Southbank office. It will draw on a wealth of IBM expertise from IBM's Business Analytics and Optimisation global consulting organisation as well as from technologists at Europe's largest software development laboratory - IBM Hursley in Hampshire, UK.

"We live in a knowledge economy - services which help companies to understand and interpret complex systems, such as financial markets, are becoming increasingly important," said Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills at the launch event. "This new initiative from IBM is an important vote of confidence in the continued strength of London's banking and financial sector, and will help to give British firms the competitive advantage they need to thrive and grow."

The London centre will have access to IBM's comprehensive Information Management portfolio that includes technologies integrated following the acquisitions of Cognos, iLog and SPSS. It will also provide expertise to help organisations embed new sensor technology into their processes to gather detailed performance and management data on which to base analysis and decision-making.

RSA

RSA has used analytics software from SPSS, an IBM company, to drive a 15 per cent increase in customer satisfaction, retention and lifetime value. The technology is enabling RSA to capture detailed data about customer attitudes, opinions and preferences, regardless of their geography, language or communications channel, at various points in their lifecycle. RSA can then use this information to identify the key drivers of satisfaction, such as first call resolution and access to support, improving the overall customer experience and offering more appropriate products.

"In the current climate, customer satisfaction and retention are key priorities for us. The technology has been instrumental in measuring customer service and providing a deeper understanding of behaviour and intention, helping us to improve our business processes," said Nigel Bowman, Head of Customer Experience at RSA.

ORX

IBM is working the Operational Riskdata eXchange Association (ORX) to develop new analytics that help ORX member banks quantify risk exposure. ORX, a not-for-profit association owned and controlled by its members, is the predominant global consortium for secure and anonymous exchange of operational risk loss event data used by over 52 leading financial institutions across 18 countries. ORX, in partnership with mathematicians from IBM Research, has analysed more than 135,000 loss events, each event over euro 20,000 in value, to a total value of euro 42 billion. This has provided new intelligence that has enabled its member firms to secure a more accurate understanding of exposure to potentially damaging operational risk.

"Making sense of massive amounts of risk loss data from an array of different events at a diverse number of member banks is a far from simple exercise," explained Simon Wills, Executive Director at ORX. "IBM's research team has helped us advance fundamental research into the measurement of operational risk, allowing us to better leverage our shared consortium data to extract meaningful conclusions and obtain valuable insight for our member banks."

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  Notes to editor:

(1) IBM previously announced a significant expansion of its business analytics capabilities with plans to open a network of Analytics Solution Centres around the world. The London investment forms part of this previously announced expansion full details available here. IBM has opened six further analytics solution centres this year in Berlin, Beijing, Dallas, Tokyo, New York and Washington, D.C. In support of its global investment in Business Analytics and Optimisation, IBM expects to retrain or hire as many as 4,000 new analytics consultants and professionals worldwide.

Contact: For more information:

Ken Saunders +44 207 021 8422 saundken@uk.ibm.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: rowinski@us.ibm.com

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SOURCE: IBM Corporation