05 de July de 2019
The seventh edition of Talent Alumni Review, published by EAE, contains the Profile section that includes an interview with Javier Valencia, the Vice-President of Cloud & Cognitive for IBM in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Israel. The publication discusses the digital transformation that is taking place at the heart of the technological multinational. The cognitive systems IBM Watson, cloud computing platform IBM Cloud, mobility technologies IBM MobileFirst and cybersecurity are some of the key features of this transformation. IBM is now working to extend artificial intelligence to new business processes and move applications and data to the hybrid cloud.
The transition to the cloud
Javier Valencia explained that organizations have only completed a fifth of the journey towards complete transition to the cloud, primarily focusing on infrastructure, but he emphasized that the value and usability of the cloud go much further. In the IBM's opinion, the cloud facilitates agility and flexibility to adapt to change, as well as offering the possibility of constantly innovating. He also highlighted pay-per-use as a key benefit of the cloud. Over the last few years, the technological multinational has been working to transfigure the advantages of IBM Cloud, both in terms of hardware and software, for SMEs at a competitive price based on a pay-per-use structure. This model does not require initial investments and helps to eliminate business barriers and democratize technology.
Data storage and use
To create added value in business, data has to be extracted and used. Referring to the lack of integration between platforms, Javier Valencia put forward the solution of creating a multi-cloud, hybrid environment based on OpenSource, with open standards between the different clouds. "The hybrid environment makes it easier to host applications based on the data that feeds them, which in many cases is affected by the different privacy, security and regulatory policies and restrictions", explained Javier Valencia.
The Vice-President of Cloud & Cognitive for IBM in Spain, Portugal, Grecia and Israel argued that IBM's cloud business is far broader that its competitors' and includes infrastructure, software, platform and processing as a service, but also hardware, software and services that enable companies to design, build, operate and integrate private, public and hybrid clouds.
IBM has extensive experience of data management acquired over the course of decades working with the largest corporations in the world In October, the IBM Cloud Garage was inaugurated in Madrid, a co-creation space where the design thinking methodology is used to invent, creates and power disruption in the way we imagine and create new applications. The objective is to facilitate innovation by empowering ecosystems with start- ups, incubators and customers. "It is a platform where we incorporate technology, methodology, talent and experience to accelerate the creation of value through innovation and transformation", added Javier Valencia.
Artificial intelligence
The CEO of IBM explained that Spain is in the early stages of artificial intelligence. "Lots of Spanish companies in different sectors are integrating AI in their business processes". The technological multinational's concept of Artificial intelligence is based on trust, responsibility and transparency. "We have already developed a cloud technology enables data bias to be detected automatically in such a way that they can be corrected in real time", he explained.
At IBM Research, they are currently working on an open-source tool kit for reducing and detecting bias in AI in order to facilitate global collaboration to deal with bias in artificial intelligence. In relation to this technology, the company has just become a global of Barcelona Tech City through the IBM Cloud, which enables access to cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain and deep learning. "Thanks to this project, people will also be able to access pioneering R&D&I centres, such as the IBM Research laboratory in Zurich, where they can discover, test and experiment with technologies that are not yet on the market", explained Javier Valencia.
Committed to technology
Operating in over 175 countries and with a global workforce of 380,000 professionals, IBM invests 6% of its turnover into R&D&I. It is the company with the most patents registered in the USA. "Moreover, at IBM, we make a big annual investment into the R&D&I departments because it enables us to innovate constantly. Lastly, we have a great drive and technological capacity to work in the market of an open innovation ecosystem which, thanks to the cloud computing, has acquired far greater potential", explained the interviewee in the Profile section of Talent Alumni Review.
Javier Valencia shares differential values with IBM, such as his track record experience and technological knowledge. In addition, they both have great experience and knowledge of different sectors, which enables them to help their clients with more specific sector needs.
Download the magazine here: TALENT ALUMNI REVIEW 7