Barclays Bank PLC has signed an agreement with IBM Business Partnerwhereby IBM will provide System p and System Storage products. Toformalize the agreement, a signing ceremony was held at the Barclays BankPLC, Pakistan head office in Karachi.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohsin Nathani, Managing Director and CountryHead, Barclays Bank Pakistan said, “Data is the backbone of any organizationand with the rapidly emerging needs of secured storage, it is imperative fororganizations to add layers of data protection. We are committed to providingour customers with data center services of global standards and this strategictie-up with IBM reinforces our vision to provide top class solutions to ourcustomers across the country.”

more effectively and to stay ahead of market changes.

As part of IBM's Global Market strategy, IBM has created a new organizationalunit called Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA)based in Dubai. This new unit will be the Integrated Operating Team (IOT)which consists of four Integrated Marketing Teams (IMT) regions namelyRussia/CIS, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East& North Africa (MENA). Pakistan will be a part of MENA together with MiddleEast, Egypt and North Africa.

We at IBM Pakistan are very optimistic that this new organizational set upwill bring a positive impact on our market and will bring top skills and activitiescloser to Pakistan, resulting in improved presence in the region and bettersupport to our Clients.

IBM Moves itsRegionalHeadquarters fromEurope to Dubai

Gartner has reported that IBM held its number one position as the leadingvendor in worldwide server revenue, widening its lead over the competitionin the second quarter of 2008. According to Gartner data, IBM captured 31.2percent of all server revenue worldwide. IBM demonstrated industry leadershipacross the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific (including Japan), garnering30.4 percent, 31.7 percent, and 32.1 percent revenue share respectively in thegeographies.

IBM Widens its Lead in Worldwide Server RevenueShare, Maintains Top Position with Growth in PowerSystems and System z Sales

Barclays Bank InstallsState-of-the-art IBM

Humayun Bashir, Country General Manager, IBM Pakistan commented that,“IBM believes the coming decade will be defined by a rapid growth in newenergy which will be enabled by the application of new business models.We are positive of this partnership with Barclays where we can bring thebest of innovation and highly secured data centre solutions.”

As a solution, Barclays Bank Pakistan has chosen IBM's System UNIX-server platform to meet their needs of a scalable database server which isdesigned to meet the rigors of its Core Banking application. Barclays Bankhas also chosen IBM's SAN Volume Controller (SVC) and Tape Librarywhich shall help combine storage capacity from multiple vendors forcentralized management, maintain backups and also increase storageutilization by providing more flexible access to storage assets. GBM isserving the customer.

Picture shows: Mohsin Nathani, Managing Director and Country Head, Barclays Bank Pakistan and HumayunBashir, Country General Manager, IBM Pakistan with their teams at the agreement signing ceremony.

IBM is taking a new approach to marketdifferentiation, focusing on common growthcharacteristics, not location. The traditionalapproach to doing business in different economicmarkets around the world involves grouping clientsand markets according to their physical locationand serving them via geographic units.

A market and client focused approach, centeredaround characteristics of major markets and growthmarkets, enables IBM to deliver client value

Picture shows: Jehan Ara, President P@SHA, Kamran Y. Mirza, Chairman EPZA, Hifz-ur-Rehman, Secretary IT Federal, Humayun Bashir, Country General Manager, IBM Pakistan, Talib Hussain, MD, PSEB at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

IT & Outsourcing Session at ITCN Asia 2008

Customer Newsletter - Issue # 4

IBM Research UnleashesPowerful Speech SoftwareIBM announced the availability of state-of-the-art speechrecognition software to clients and partners exploring thedevelopment of real-world consumer and businesssolutions.

As part of an effort to bring IBM Research's vauntedintellectual capital directly into the marketplace, the openingof IBM Research's speech assets will make it easier forIBM customers and partners to gain a competitiveadvantage in new markets by integrating the industry'smost advanced speech recognition software.

"One of the unique ways IBM Research stays ahead ofthe competition is by looking at innovations that will havea real-world impact," said David Nahamoo, IBM Fellowand CTO Speech Technology, IBM Research. "Now,through our collaborative model, we are helping the ITmarket explore new growth opportunities enabled by ourstate-of-the-art speech technologies and solutions."

For more information please visit ibm.com

New Research from IBM & the Human Capital InstituteDemonstrates ROI of Talent ManagementA study by IBM and the Human Capital Institute(HCI) shows that while 84 percent of organizationsknow that workforce effectiveness is important toachieving business results, only 42 percent ofthose surveyed say that managers devote sufficienttime to people management.

The study, Integrated Talent Management, wasbased on research with 1,900 individuals frommore than 1,000 public and private sectororganizations around the world. It was undertakenby IBM and HCI to identify the return on investmentof integrated talent management. Among thefindings:

"The IBM/HCI study clearly calls for the same rigorin talent analytics and management that CEOsand CIOs require to make the strategic decisionstheir companies depend on," said Tim Ringo, Vice

President Human Capital Management, IBM. "Thechallenge laid out for IBM's clients is to treat theirmost valuable asset - their people - as their mostcompetitive edge."

"The long-term payoffs of strong talentmanagement far outweigh the costs andcomplexities associated with upfront investments,"said Allan Schweyer, Executive Director of HCI.

"This research proves that in today's increasinglyglobalized, technology-driven economy, a strategicand integrated focus on talent can in fact help yourorganization prepare for corporate adolescenceand financially outperform competitors, no matterthe size or industry."

For more information please visit ibm.com

IBM PRODUCTS & SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENTS

IBM Helps People StayConnected with New Softwareand Mobile DevicesIBM has launched new software and services for mobiledevices that closely mimic desktop features formerly foundonly on the PC. Designed for both business users andconsumers, the new offerings can help individuals makebetter business decisions faster, while connecting friends,work colleagues and teams beyond what has beenavailable in the PC era.

To capture this market demand, IBM is combining itssoftware, services and research expertise to develop newmobile products and services. The new software includesproducts with business intelligence, collaboration, socialnetworking and business performance capabilities. Inaddition, IBM is providing developers with new tools tomake existing software applications run on mobile devices.IBM's software is built on open standards so it can be usedwith most mobile platforms including BlackBerry, iPhone,Windows Mobile, and Symbian.

For more information please visit ibm.com

IBM Positioned in the Leaders Quadrant forE-Commerce Magic QuadrantIBM announced that it has been positioned byGartner, Inc. in the Leaders Quadrant in its newMagic Quadrant for E-Commerce(1) report.

The Gartner Magic Quadrant for E-Commercedefines Leaders as ‘technology providers thatdemonstrate the greatest degree of support forB2B and B2C Internet sales.’ According to thereport, ‘These providers lead the market in e-commerce by consistently demonstrating customersatisfaction, strong support and professionalservices, leading to the implementation of asuccessful e-commerce site.’ In addition, theseleaders should also have demonstrated longevityin the e-commerce market, as well as acommitment to new product innovations for Internet

sales. In addition, leaders represent technologyproviders with the strongest capability to meetinternet selling requirements.

More than 1,000 companies worldwide, includingAbercrombie & Fitch, Harry and David, Staplesand Home Depot, are using WebSphereCommerce as a powerful platform for cross-channel, online and mobile commerce-supportingall of a company's business models while providinga rich, differentiated customer experience. Forexample, the IBM WebSphere Commerce solutionis a critical component in Harry and David's initiativeto grow internet sales.

For more information please visit ibm.com/websphere

IBM Commits $300 Million toExpand Business Continuityand Resiliency ServicesIBM announced that it is investing US$300 million toconstruct 13 Business Resilience service delivery centersin 10 countries in 2008, increasing its ability to addresssurging demand from businesses and governments fromaround the world seeking to keep their operations safefrom disruption. The massive infrastructure expansion isthe largest of its kind and will permit IBM clients to accessservices that support business continuity for the first timefrom a cloud computing environment.

For more information please visit ibm.com

New IBM Software Eases Data Integration and MasterData Management ChallengesIBM introduced new versions of two softwareproducts, as a part of its growing InfoSphereportfolio, that deliver information on demand to thepeople, processes and applications that rely on it.The new products help customers create andmanage trusted information from across theirenterprises to improve business performance.

IBM is introducing a new version of its IBM masterdata management software. The company is also

releasing a new version of IBM InfoSphereInformation Server, which allows customers tostandardize and resolve multicultural name data.In addition, IBM is offering enhanced globalization,extended mainframe support, and improved ease-of-use with new automation features to simplifyand speed large-scale information integrationprojects across the globe.

For more information please visitibm.com/software/data/infosphere

A Measured Approach to Going Green:IBM Green Sigma Consulting Offering toHelp Clients Reduce Energy and Water UsageA new IBM consulting offering can help clients lower their environmental impact, increase efficiencyand reduce costs by applying Lean Six Sigma principles to energy and water usage throughouttheir operations.

“There’s a fundamental truth to understanding and improving any aspect of a company’s performance– if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” said Dave Lubowe, global leader of IBM’s operationsstrategy consulting practice. “This applies as much to a company’s energy and water consumptionas it does to anything else, and our new offering can help clients apply this principle to make theirbusinesses greener.”

This new offering applies these principles wherever energy and water are used throughout a client’soperations - transportation systems, datacenters and IT systems, manufacturing and distributioncenters, office facilities, retail space, research and development sites, etc.

SECP Launches eServices, based on IBM Software Solutions - First of its Kind in Pakistan!The Securities and Exchange Commissionof Pakistan (SECP) has launched itse-Services based on IBM Software Solutions.These e-Services would facilitate thecorporate sector, practitioners, consultantsand public at large to enable availability ofname, incorporation of companies and e-filingof statutory returns. This is the first of its kindof e-Services in the corporate history ofPakistan, which brings Pakistan at par withother advanced countries like USA, UK andAustralia.

The IBM solution acquired by SECP is a multichannel integrated Service OrientedArchitecture (SOA), based on IBM's worldleading DB2 Content Manager, Lotus Formsand WebSphere middleware. In this solutionthe physical forms are digitized into Content

Manager and the workflow ensures seemlessflow of business data on SECP businessprocesses, hence, enabling SECP to quicklysearch through various mechanisms on thedata and real-time monitoring. The e-formscan be filled on-line by corporations usingsecure digital certificates issued by NiFT.Once signed these eforms cannot be altered(integrity and non repudiation) and aresecurely traded and stored in compliance withthe regulatory laws. WebSphere BusinessIntegration Server and MQ technologies arebeing used for integration to SECP legacyapplications, as well as integration withnational social security databases andpayment systems. Kudos to Techlogix, IBMBusiness Partner who undertook this complextask and implemented successfully.

IBM PRODUCTS & SERVICES ANNOUNCEMENTS

Bank AL-Habib Limited Continues toRely on IBM Systems

Allied Bank Limited Deploys IBM Rational

IBM Rational Application Developer was selected by Allied Bank Limited (ABL) for itsintegrated development environment to accelerate application development leveragingrapid application development and visual development techniques.

This initiative would help ABL in shortening the Java learning curve and ensuring improvedcode quality through a tool which would apply coding standards and perform run-timeanalysis. IBM Business Partner is serving the customers.

Bank AL-Habib Limited, an old IBM user has once again showed their trust by acquiringIBM System x servers and IBM High end eX4 architecture based systems x3850M2 torun their ERP applications running DB2 database. They also have selected x3650 serversfor Lotus Notes and online banking. Inbox Business Technologies, IBM Business Partnerclosed the deal.

Built on the next generation of Enterprise X-Architecture servers, the IBM System x3850M2 takes performance, efficiency and reliability to the next level. Featuring an unmatchedcombination of x86 performance and scalability with a balanced design, the x3850 M2delivers unrivalled reliability & virtualization capability.

UBL HR Management System Goes Live!

United Bank Limited (UBL) HR Management System goes live. IBMhas successfully completed its first Oracle ERP Implementation whilelaying strong footholds in the local market as an Oracle ERP Implementer.

Oracle HRMS Implementation Project at UBL achieved the key milestoneof going live. IBM successful implementation is attributable to relentlessefforts by the team in user acceptance testing of business processes,integration testing, and infrastructure implementation and conductingend user training session. IBM Pakistan invited an experienced HCMConsultant from IBM UAE who helped on the subject and profoundlycontributed in its implementation.

University InitiativesIBM under its Academic Program has launched its University Initiative to promote knowledgeamong the youth. In this program IBM employees share their knowledge and experiencewith the students. This program focuses on topics like leadership, innovation, latesttechnology, trends, finance and the environment. Sessions have been conducted inKarachi University, NED University of Engineering and Technology and others.

IBM participated in P@SHA Career Expo held at Marriott Karachi &Avari Lahore.

This event is a flagship HR event for fresh graduate and experiencedprofessionals. Many leading IT companies in Pakistan participated inthis event. This serves as a great platform and reduces the bridge betweenthe employers and the job seekers. Graduates get a chance to share firsthand knowledge and experience of employees in leading roles and seehow they can best fit in.

P@SHA Career Expo 2008

IBM Expands itsBusiness PartnerNetwork

System x Training for Business Partners

IBM System x & BladeCenter team arranged a series of training sessions for Business Partners Sales and Pre-Sales teams inIslamabad, Lahore & Karachi. These trainings were arranged to enable Sales & Pre-Sales team members to improve their solutionsales skills and handle customer queries more effectively. The training was facilitated by Mr. Robert Lvoncik, FTSS Middle East.

IBM has appointed ABM Info Tech (Pvt.) Ltd. as theirauthorized Business Parnter in Pakistan. Reseller forSTG products which include the brands System x,System Storage and NetApp. ABM Infotech has officesin Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, and Sialkot.

SAN Configuration & Administration Training forTCS System

IBM arranged a 'SAN Configuration & Administration Training' for TCS system operation staff in Julyat TCS, Head office, Karachi. The training thoroughly covered topics related to SAN installation.

Sadiq Panjwani to leadFinancial Sector

Sadiq Panjwani has been promoted as Managerfor Financial Sector. In his new role he would beresponsible for country wide banking, insuranceand financial markets business. Earlier, Sadiq wasthe Financial Sector Leader and Territory ServicesLeader at IBM Pakistan.

Tivoli Storage Manager 5.5 Technical Workshop

IBM Global Technology Services arranged a five-day Tivoli Storage Manager 5.5 Technical Workshop for its Customers and BusinessPartners at IBM Karachi premises. The workshop covered Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) Implementation, Administration andOperational aspects, along with hands-on lab at IBM TEC Center.

IBM PAKISTAN & BUSINESS PARTNER NEWS

Ovex Technologies (Pvt.) Ltd. has joined IBM networkof Business Partners. They are authorized to market andsell IBM System x and System Storage products. Ovexhas offices in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

OVEX Technologies

MegaPlus Pakistan has been appointed as IBM BusinessPartner to market and sell complete portfolio IBM Systemand Technology products. MegaPlus has 4 branchesnationwide.

ABMINFO TECH