Agruda

2015703231

INTERNAL
STRENGTH WEAKNESS
IBM Cloud Imitable Products
Extensive Intellectual Property Portfolio Shrinking Product Mix
High Value Brand Focus on Large Enterprise
Biggest Client Base Expensive Software Solutions And Services
EXTERNAL
OPPORTUNITY THREATS
High-end Server Business Imitation
Demand of Cloud Based Service Cybercrime
IBM Watson Intense Competition
Data Analytics Slow Growth of Economy

SWOT Analysis Matrix

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) engages in continuous efforts to

address concerns shown in this SWOT analysis of the business. The SWOT Analysis is a
strategic tool to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats most significant and
relevant to the business. IBM’s strengths and weaknesses are internal strategic factors that
determine capabilities and challenges based on the organization’s characteristics. For example,
the company’s global operations facilitate economies of scale that strengthens the business
against competitors. On the other hand, the opportunities and threats in IBM’s business are
external strategic factors that reflect the situation of the information technology industry and the
markets where the business operates. Big Blue needs to develop appropriate strategies and tactics
to stay ahead of competitors while maintaining growth and stability based on business strengths.
Long-term growth and survival despite major changes in the industry are achievable by
addressing the issues outlined in this SWOT Analysis of IBM.
Strength
The internal strategic factors that support or promote business growth and resilience are
identified in this element of the SWOT analysis of IBM. These factors are strengths that continue
to support the company in its more than 100 years of business operations in the global
information technology industry. IBM can achieve further growth and development by adding to
or improving the following business strengths.
IBM has moved to cloud computing in 2007 with its “Blue Cloud” program, which was
designed to offer hardware and software solutions for enterprises that were willing to have their
own private cloud. Since then the company has become the first reference point for enterprise
cloud solutions in the cloud market. Unlike many other companies in the cloud market, the
company has been offering the broadest range of software and services in one place. IBM is
helping lead this shift to the cloud and assisting clients across a wide array of industries as they
digitally transform their organizations. Through their decades of client work and industry
expertise, IBM is able to deliver consistency with choice via hybrid, public or private clouds.
They’re leveraging this heritage and expertise while investing billions to deliver new AI, Internet
of Things and Block chain applications to the cloud.
The international business community recognizes the ability to manage intellectual
property as critical for commercial success. Doing so effectively, however, is often easier said
than done. And finding partners to help can be difficult. Organizations that excel at managing
their intellectual property are the least likely to share their knowledge, and those that do offer to
help often have little or no patents of their own. IBM, however, both understands the IP
landscape from hands-on experience and makes its know-how available to its partners.
Throughout the world, IBM is recognized for our intellectual property development,
management, and commercialization leadership, as well as our leading role in global IP policy,”
said Ken King, General Manager, Intellectual Property, IBM. “We can put them to work for
almost any company with intellectual property resources. IBM uses a structured component
business model, breaking down into discrete modules all innovations and business activities with
intellectual property implications. This approach helps ensure that an organization's portfolio is
managed completely and efficiently. IBM’s team includes professionals from across the
spectrum of IBM’s Intellectual Property practice. The team works with each client to identify the
modules it needs to reinforce the weaker areas of its practice, and then delivers the know-how to
accomplish that.
Weakness
In this element of the SWOT analysis, the internal strategic factors that reduce or limit
IBM’s business performance are determined. These factors are weaknesses that the company
must overcome through strategic initiatives or reforms in business operations and processes. In
the context of the information technology market, IBM must address these following
weaknesses.

Opportunities
The external strategic factors that contribute to favorable conditions for business growth
are identified in this element of the SWOT analysis of IBM. These factors are opportunities
linked to changes in the information technology industry and related markets, such as the
transformation of the dominant technological strategies used in the market. The following are
opportunities for the growth of IBM’s business.

Threats
In this element of the SWOT analysis, the external strategic factors that decrease or
restrict IBM’s growth are determined. These factors threaten the company in terms of potential
failure in strategy implementation. They also make it difficult for the business to maximize
revenues and profits in the information technology industry. IBM needs to implement measures
to protect its business from the following threats in the external environment.