IT Vendors Form Strategic Alliances to Stay Ahead in Diversified Asia-Pacific Market

Strategic Insights -

Asia-Pacific multinational technology vendors are forming strategic partnerships to adapt to the heterogeneous nature of the region and achieve operational efficiency. IT services provider EDS has launched the "Agility Alliance," a platform that aggregates systems from various vendors to offer seamless technology solutions to large organisations. Microsoft, on the other hand, has introduced the Real Time Collaboration (RTC) platform, a series of integrated communication products that support partnerships with local systems integrators and vendors.

Key Takeaways:

  • EDS' Agility Alliance involves partnerships with 11 prominent technology vendors, including Cisco Systems, Dell, EMC, Fuji Xerox, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, Siebel, Sun Microsystems, Towers Perrin, and niche regional players. [1]
  • The alliance aims to create a seamless technology platform for large organisations in Asia, leveraging the combined strengths of the partner companies. [2]
  • Microsoft's Real Time Collaboration (RTC) platform is backed by local systems integrators PCCW, Datacraft Asia, and Edvance, with vendors like Siemens Business Communication Systems, Radvision, Polycom, Tandberg, and FaceTime Communications also participating in the initiative. [3]
  • The Asia-Pacific market dynamics necessitate partnerships between large multinational technology vendors and regional and country-level partners due to the region's heterogeneity. [4]
  • According to Sureshpal Singh, Asia-Pacific manager for partnering and alliances research at International Data Corp (IDC), technology commoditisation and increased operational efficiency have reduced parity between industry leaders, making strategic partnerships crucial. [5]
  • IDC forecasts the global IT market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6 per cent from this year to 2009. [6]
  • EDS has committed over US$1 billion in the next few years to create an "agile enterprise platform" that would align its IT systems in core areas such as networking, workplace management, hosting, storage infrastructure, applications, and business processes. [7]
  • Microsoft's RTC initiative aims to expand the reach of its Live Communications Server 2005, Office Live Meeting 2005, and Office Communicator 2005, integrating them with various communication tools used by enterprises. [8]

Statistics:

  • 11 technology vendors are part of EDS' Agility Alliance.
  • 15 vendors and systems integrators are backing Microsoft's RTC platform.
  • The global IT market is forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6 per cent from this year to 2009.
  • Over US$1 billion will be invested by EDS to create its agile enterprise platform in the next few years.

Sources:

  • EDS press release, [April 2005]
  • Microsoft press release, [March 2005]
  • International Data Corp (IDC) report, [2005]
  • EDS chairman and chief executive, Michael Jordan, quoted in [April 2005]
  • EDS vice-president of global alliances, Robb Rasmussen, quoted in [April 2005]
  • EDS managing director for Greater China and Korea, Ng Chong Meng, quoted in [April 2005]
  • Microsoft marketing manager for the RTC business unit, Peter de Zoete, quoted in [March 2005]