IBM (NYSE: IBM ) recently announced plans to globally expand its business solutions capabilities with new, cloud-based Industry Platforms to simplify and accelerate clients' digital transformation journeys. IBM’s portfolio of Cloud Industry Platforms and Solutions deliver fast, simplified access to services that allow clients to exploit the opportunities of cloud and big data, and make their transformations with the assurance of predictable outcomes.

As part of this initiative, IBM announced the opening of the first state-of-the-art IBM Cloud Business Innovation Center in Bangalore. Cloud Business Innovation Centers provide an opportunity for clients around the world to work side-by-side with IBM solution consultants, researchers, digital marketing and experience design experts to personalize the Industry Platforms to their specific needs.

In 2014, IBM Global Business Services launched a portfolio of Cloud Business Solutions that package multiple technology and services components into a single client agreement and delivers end-to-end solutions “as a service.” The initial offerings addressed business functions in the areas of sales, marketing, financial management and operations and included consulting services, intellectual property assets from IBM Research, software, advanced analytics, ongoing support and cloud infrastructure delivered via IBM Softlayer. Today, Cloud Business Solutions have been applied in more than 500 client engagements.

Building on this portfolio, IBM is announcing Industry Platforms that will combine multiple Cloud Business Solutions with deeper industry content for expanded business benefits and faster time to value. Each Industry Platform offers clients access to a set of standard assets that can be quickly tailored to deliver a differentiated business solution. The first three Industry Platforms include:

• Retail Consumer Experience – A Consumer Engagement Platform that empowers retailers to quickly deploy increasingly sophisticated engagement capabilities driven by contextual, relevant, multi-channel, end-to-end personalization that deliver a “passion-driven” consumer experience.
• Personalized Learning – A platform that delivers data-driven personalized learning to empower educators to help students reach their full potential and for corporations to address fast moving learning needs within their organizations.
• Insights for a Connected World - A Insight platform designed for the Industries reshaped by the Internet of Things. The platform turns vast volumes of data from multiple sources into insights that can be sold to ecosystem partners or used to inform new business models, improve customer service and business operations.

Enabling New Business Models

IBM Cloud Business Solutions combine the scale, speed and ease of the cloud with the industry insight of IBM consulting services to address specific industry verticals and business functions. In the past year, IBM has launched more than 20 solutions for specific business domains across industries.

“Our portfolio of Cloud Business Solutions is a recognition of the mandate for speed and time to value, along with the requirement of clients to personalize business solutions to their own processes and culture and deploy them via the cloud," said Sanjay Rishi, IBM Global Business Services, Managing Partner, Cloud Consulting Services. “Our new IBM Cloud Business Innovation Center will help us co-create with our clients, addressing their unique needs with tailored solutions, delivered on the cloud for fast results.”