CEBU’S strategic location, infrastructure and wealth of talents have prompted IBM to open its second Global Delivery Center (GDC) site for application services.
In a press conference held yesterday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Richard Patterson, vice president of Globally Integrated Delivery of IBM, said the
expansion strengthens and expands the delivery of information technology (IT) services to clients in the global and local markets.
IBM’s new GDC site is located at the TGU Tower in Asiatown IT Park in Lahug, Cebu City.
With GDC operations in more than 170 countries, IBM has selected only eight strategic delivery centers.
“The government’s support to the business community, the academic system that develops pool of talents in the information technology (IT) and the industry, the high infrastructure and the stable environment both in political and economic standpoints were the factors that encouraged the company to expand facilities in the Philippines,” Patterson said. “And Cebu in particular has all these.”
Other strategic GDCs are in Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Romania and Vietnam.
GDC’s first facility for application services in the Philippines was launched in 2003 in Quezon City. The center delivers a full range of end-to-end IT solutions and support clients globally from industries such as banking, insurance, telecommunications, utilities, media, manufacturing, oil and gas and distribution.
Lula Mohanty, director of GDC Philippines, said the Filipinos’ excellent attitude in rendering quality service and the willingness to be “global” have also prompted the company to expand its facility.
“The availability of the supply of talents, access to the Southern Philippines and the joint collaboration with the government have made all these not a stand-alone enterprise,” she said.
Though IBM officials declined to disclose figures of the company’s investment in the facility, Patterson said they would rather focus on the company’s intention of building competencies in Java and Web technologies and other testing applications in Cebu.
“Cebu is the hub in the region. We see the opportunity to assist considering that it’s the gateway to potential clients both global and local,” said James Velasquez, country general manager of IBM Philippines.
He said that in the last five years, IBM Philippines has grown its workforce from 300 to 7,000. KOC
r