IBM denies sharing client data with NSA

US technology giant IBM has fought back against speculation that the company cooperated with the National Security Agency, publishing a letter to clients Friday in an attempt to distance itself from the embattled intelligence agency. “IBM has not provided client data to the NSA or any other government agency under any surveillance program involving the bulk collection of content or metadata,” Robert Weber, the company’s senior vice president of legal and regulatory affairs, wrote in a blog post quoted by Reuters. “If the US government were to serve a national security order on IBM to obtain data from an enterprise client and impose a gag order that prohibits IBM from notifying that client, IBM will take appropriate steps to challenge the gag order through judicial action or other means,” he went on. The International Business Machines Corporation is a New York City-based multinational technology and consulting company. Nicknamed “Big Blue,” IBM provides computer software and infrastructure, along with hosting and a number of other services to customers around the globe. It is consistently ranked among the most profitable and recognizable companies in the US.

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VIT partners with IBM for new academic courses

NEW Delhi: Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) has partnered with IBM to incorporate advanced information technology (IT) related concepts into the existing BTech (Bachelors in Technology) courses offered at the university. This initiative will not only provide the technical know-how, but also make the syllabi more tuned to real-world problems and solutions. This in turn is expected to make the graduates employment ready.

As part of the partnership, VIT and IBM will design and deliver a new set of courses for the students. These courses will imbibe theoretical knowledge coupled with broad-based industry alignment, interaction, talent discoverability as well as excellence in their professional practice.


IT plays a major role in driving business transformation. Organizations across the world are operating in an increasingly complex environment and are taking to smarter computing - a seamless integration of big data, analyzed through optimized systems and managed as a cloud - for business growth. With this initiative, the students will be equipped to adapt to these changing dynamics in the industry and drive technology and business innovation.


"As a global technology corporation, IBM will help bring in experts to design and deliver a completely new set of courses that meet the evolving needs of the industry," said chancellor G Viswanathan.

This joint initiative by IBM and VIT will augment finishing school efforts of the industry by preparing them better for future employability.

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IBM introduces new powerful mainframe computers

ARMONK: IBM on Tuesday introduced a new line of mainframe computers the company calls its most powerful and technologically advanced ever.

IBM said its zEnterprise EC12 mainframe server is designed to help clients securely and quickly sift through massive amounts of data, meeting the demands of retail and other clients in the age of ``Big Data.'' Running at 5.5 GHz, IBM said the microprocessor that powers the mainframe is the fastest chip in the world. Processing speed is 25 per cent faster than the previous model.


Mainframes are used by corporate clients ranging from banks to chain stores. IBM says the new model could be used by retailers to manage online transactions and analyze clients' buying habits and then use the information to create a ``more customized shopping experience,'' such as a custom coupon issued during a transaction.


``Whether its retail or whether its transportation, making reservations, whatever it is, the system has been built really to help clients do those new types of new-age transactions,'' said Doug Brown, an IBM vice president of marketing.


IBM says more than $1 billion was spent on research and development for the system at 18 sites worldwide, with most of it in Poughkeepsie, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of its headquarters in Armonk in Westchester County.

The new mainframe is being promoted as one of the most secure systems ever with a tamper-resistant cryptographic co-processor to provide privacy for sensitive transactions.


IBM has been focusing on its software and services divisions, which are more profitable than selling the mainframe computers that made the company famous decades ago. But the sales of those mainframes help feed demand for IBM services.

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Not Apple, not Microsoft, some say IBM most valuable company of all time

Apple had the Internet buzzing Monday when it claimed the title of the most valuable company of all time. Apple's surging stock propelled the company's value to $624 billion, beating the record for market capitalisation set by Microsoft in the heady days of the Internet boom. Microsoft's 1999 peak was $620.58 billion, according to Standard & Poor's.

However, comparisons to Microsoft, and others, do not take inflation into account. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the Redmond-based software giant was worth around $856 billion on Dec. 30, 1999. Which means Apple has the best part of another $225 billion dollars to add to its market cap before it can overtake Microsoft. Of course, by the time Apple adds that amount, the inflation-adjusted value of Microsoft as on Dec. 30, 1999 would have gone even higher (or lower, depending upon inflation data). In other words, it's a moving target that cannot have a fixed dollar value.


There's another reason why Apple fans shouldn't look at Microsoft's inflation-adjusted value as the number to overtake - it is not the highest inflation-adjusted market capitalisation value recorded by a public-listed company. That number belongs to IBM.


The blog Columbia Journalism Review says IBM's 1967 value of $193 billion is worth around $1.3 trillion in today's money. That means Apple's Monday market cap is not even half of IBM's value back then, after adjusting for inflation.

So what number should you believe? Is IBM the most valuable company of all time, or does the crown belong to Apple? At the end of the day, these are just numbers and titles with little impact on the day to day activities of any of the companies involved. In absolute terms, Apple made history on Monday, while relatively speaking IBM is, of course, way ahead. Let's end the debate and enjoy the innovations that these companies bring to the market. 

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IBM to buy Texas Memory Systems

International Business Machines has agreed to buy privately held Texas Memory Systems, a high-end enterprise storage technology provider, to expand its own storage offerings, IBM said on Thursday.

Armonk, New York-based IBM did not disclose the terms of the deal with Texas Memory, which employs about 100 people. The deal is expected to close later this year, IBM said.

Texas Memory told Reuters in December that it was looking to be bought by a bigger company so it could take advantage of a bigger sales force to sell its products to corporate customers.  

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