Indian aerospace, defence sectors to generate earnings of $5 billion over 10 years for IBM

12 September 2008

Bangalore: Stepping up its focus on the Indian market, International Business Machines Corp (IBM) is now eyeing the country's aerospace and defence sectors and is evaluating strategies, including partnerships with private and public sector companies, to tap into the Indian defence market.

The multinational computer technology and consulting corporation said it will offer enterprise optimisation and microelectronics solutions.

''We see India as a significant market as part of our growth strategy and would be investing to develop it,'' said Tom Kilkenny, general manager for IBM's global aerospace and defence solutions.

According to Kilkenny, in India these sectors had the potential to generate earnings of up to $5 billion over a 10 year period  for the company.

For IBM, India tops the list of emerging markets from a growth perspective even as the 'Big Blue' continues to earn a major portion of its aerospace and defence revenues from mature markets in the US, Europe and Japan.

IBM plans to target aerospace component and defence equipment makers with its enterprise optimisation solutions that help companies in productivity improvement and reduce time-to-market. Through its Advanced Aerospace Solutions Environment, a framework of software tools and assets, Websphere family of middleware technology, Rational suite of testing tools and SOA (service oriented architecture) IBM expects to enable design capabilities, build, manufacture and supply chain for these vendors.