International Business Machines Corporation - IBM STOCK NEWS

Century Park Capital Partners has announced that IBM (NYSE: IBM) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire its portfolio company, Accelalpha. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2024, subject to customary conditions. Accelalpha, founded in 2009, is a leading global provider of Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications consulting, implementation, and managed services.

Since Century Park's investment in 2020, Accelalpha has undergone significant transformation, including investments in sales & marketing, implementation of an ERP system, establishment of managed services, and creation of nearshore and offshore delivery centers. The company also completed four add-on acquisitions, expanding its Oracle service capabilities globally. As a result, Accelalpha's revenue more than quadrupled under Century Park's ownership.

IBM has expanded its consulting services to help Oracle clients maximize generative AI investments and optimize costs. The company is launching an expanded network of consultants, including thousands certified in Oracle technologies and skilled in IBM watsonx AI. These experts will help clients extend high-value generative AI use cases, choose appropriate AI models, and guide critical decisions on technology architecture and security risks.

IBM also announced its intent to acquire Accelalpha, a global Oracle services provider, to further expand its Oracle consulting expertise. The company is already assisting Oracle clients in applying generative AI, traditional AI, and automation to complement Oracle Fusion Applications' embedded AI offerings in various sectors.

IBM and ESPN are enhancing the ESPN Fantasy app with generative AI technologies from IBM's watsonx platform. The update includes new 'Top Contributing Factors' within Waiver Grade and Trade Grade features, offering more detailed reasoning for player grades. These enhancements are powered by IBM's Granite large language model and aim to provide a more personalized experience for over 12 million fantasy football users.

A recent survey by IBM and Morning Consult reveals that 90% of fantasy football users regularly engage with AI-related tools, and 82% use trade and waiver suggestions to improve their lineups. The collaboration between IBM and ESPN Fantasy Football, now in its eighth year, continues to leverage watsonx technologies to transform complex football data into actionable insights for fantasy team owners.

IBM has announced its intent to acquire Accelalpha, a global Oracle services provider, to expand its Oracle consulting expertise. The acquisition will strengthen IBM's capabilities in supply chain, logistics, finance, enterprise performance management (EPM), and customer transformation. Accelalpha, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, will join IBM Consulting, bringing a large global team of skilled consultants to help clients modernize with Oracle Cloud Applications.

Accelalpha's expertise spans the Oracle Cloud Applications Suite, including Oracle SCM, ERP, EPM, CX, and CPQ. The company has a strong presence across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America, focusing on distribution, industrial, and financial services sectors. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

IBM has opened its new flagship office at One Madison Avenue in New York City, spanning 270,000 square feet across five floors. The office will house over 2,000 New York-area employees and features state-of-the-art workspaces designed for collaboration and innovation. The LEED Gold CI certified building includes a 25,000 square-foot outdoor terrace with pollinator gardens.

The move consolidates IBM's previously held offices in NYC, creating a centralized hub expected to reach full occupancy in October 2024. The opening ceremony was attended by key figures including IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, highlighting the significance of IBM's commitment to New York's growing technology industry ecosystem.

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) and Red Hat are collaborating to bring Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) to Dell PowerEdge servers. RHEL AI, an AI-optimized operating system for developing and deploying AI and generative AI models, will be available on Dell PowerEdge R760xa servers in Q3 2024. This partnership aims to simplify AI implementation for organizations by providing a consistent AI experience on optimized hardware.

Key points:

• RHEL AI becomes a preferred platform for AI deployments on Dell PowerEdge servers
• The collaboration includes continuous testing and validation of hardware solutions, including NVIDIA accelerated computing
• RHEL AI integrates open-source Granite LLMs from IBM Research and InstructLab model alignment tools
• The solution is packaged as an optimized RHEL image for individual server deployments and is included in Red Hat OpenShift AI

IBM unveiled architecture details for the upcoming IBM Telum II Processor and IBM Spyre Accelerator at Hot Chips 2024. These innovations are designed to scale processing capacity across next-generation IBM Z mainframe systems, accelerating traditional AI models and Large Language Models (LLMs) through a new ensemble method of AI. The Telum II Processor features increased frequency, memory capacity, and a 40% growth in cache compared to its predecessor. The Spyre Accelerator provides additional AI compute capability, forming a scalable architecture to support ensemble AI modeling. Both will be manufactured by Samsung Foundry on a 5nm process node and are expected to be available to clients in 2025.

IBM's Institute for Business Value study reveals a decline in C-suite confidence in IT's ability to deliver basic services, dropping from 69% in 2013 to 47% in 2024. Simultaneously, 43% of tech CxOs report increased concerns about their technology infrastructure due to generative AI demands. The study highlights a shift in budget allocation, with expectations to spend 50% on hybrid cloud and AI combined over the next two years.

The research also uncovers a disconnect between tech CxOs and CFOs in strategic planning, despite CEOs emphasizing the importance of their collaboration. Notably, organizations linking technology investments to measurable business outcomes report 12% higher revenue growth. The study also reveals gaps in implementing responsible AI practices and addressing talent shortages in key technology areas.

IBM and the USTA Foundation announced a new collaboration to integrate AI education with tennis, aiming to make AI more accessible and engaging. A recent study by IBM revealed that 55% of young tennis fans are optimistic about AI's impact on sports. To address the skills gap, IBM launched free AI content through its SkillsBuild platform. This includes interactive microlearning sessions and a beginner-friendly guidebook, 'Learn AI Skills with Tennis'. The initiative targets students, young professionals, and tennis enthusiasts, offering courses in AI fundamentals, cybersecurity, data science, and professional skills. The USTA Foundation collaboration will benefit 25,000 under-resourced youth across 250 chapters in the US, providing access to career readiness resources and earning IBM digital credentials. IBM aims to skill 30 million people by 2030, including 2 million in AI by 2026.