IBM Philippines expands operations in Cebu

MANILA, Philippines - IBM Philippines will open its new Global Delivery Center (GDC) in Cebu in line with its commitment to stay put and expand operations in the Philipines.

IBM’s GDCs provide business consulting, systems integration, information and data management, application development, testing, packaged software solutions and non-English language translation.

Lula Mohanty, director for IBM’s Global Business Services, told reporters that initially, the Cebu-based GDC will hire 50 individuals.

The technology giant’s first GDC in the country is in Eastwood City, Libis.

Mohanty said they chose to locate in Cebu since the place is a natural fit for IBM. She said in Cebu, they have access to computer experts from both the Visayas and Mindanao, making the GDC their hub in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

Aside from the good supply of talent, Mohanty said the infrastructure in Cebu is excellent. Likewise, she said that locating in Cebu is very cost-effective and cost-wise, Cebu is very competitive when compared to Manila.

For his part, James Velasquez, IBM Philippines general manager, said IBM already have established local clients in Cebu like Norkis. He said IBM has been operating in Cebu for tha past 30 years but their current Cebu operations only has 20 personnel and mostly do support work for their local clients.

 IBM’s globally integrated capabilities provide solutions through global, regional, local and onsite expertise to help organizations successfully compete in today’s economic environment. Tight integration and close coordination across eight IBM GDCs, Regional Capability Centers (RCCs), and a growing network of Centers of Competence (CoCs) enhance the global depth of industry, solution and technical capabilities of any organization.

Apart from the Philippines, IBM has strategic delivery centers located in Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Romania and Vietnam.

Additionally, IBM’s network centers are focused on delivery excellence and use of Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and capability maturity model integration (CMMI) practices to cut costs and tap into new sources of skill, knowledge and capability with high quality delivery.