A growing number of pioneering companies see the unique advantages of Cloud platform as a service (PaaS)—which offers the speed and saving of alternatives like infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software as a service (SaaS), while allowing the user to retain choice and control over applications and data. These pioneers are adopting PaaS faster and providing valuable insight into the strategic benefits it can bring to an enterprise.
Get the full report: Insights from Platforms as a Service pioneers HERE
A vibrant new digital environment will greet tennis fans this year at Wimbledon, as the All England Club and IBM have the launched the all new Championships’ website, www.wimbledon.com.
Wimbledon.com has been completely re-designed to reflect the heritage and appeal of the event, as well as to offer the tournament’s anticipated 16 million unique website visitors a more creative and immersive experience through improved content, more powerful imagery and intuitive navigation process.
Built on IBM’s SmartCloud infrastructure to meet surges in demand, the website integrates a new online broadcast channel, Live @ Wimbledon alongside the interactive analytics-enabled IBM SlamTracker scoreboard, providing a one-stop shop for fans wanting to interact with The Championships.
Live @ Wimbledon
Featuring both TV and radio, Live @ Wimbledon will blend live action from around the grounds by dropping into matches at crucial points in play (a stream of one game, per set, per match, per hour) with the off-court color of a day at The Championships. In addition to the minimum of five hours live broadcasting per day, viewers will be able to enjoy pre-packaged content such as previews and reviews, match highlights and archive footage.
The Live @ Wimbledon radio service will offer an enhanced and improved version of its popular predecessor (Radio Wimbledon), which will be available worldwide online and on the three local FM channels.
“Together with IBM, we’ve created a new website which features increased options for people to personalize their Wimbledon experience,” said Mick Desmond, Commercial Director, at the All England Club, home of The Championships. “Visitors can follow the progress of their favorite players, view live match play clips of the day’s action, and access scores and results delivered in real-time. We expect this increasingly engaging and personalized online experience to appeal to fans in ever-greater numbers.”
IBM SlamTracker
At this year’s Championships IBM SlamTracker uses predictive analytics technology to enable fans to gain deeper insight into the match. SlamTracker is a multifaceted feature of Wimbledon’s digital presence that leverages historical and real-time data to add depth and insight to the Championship experience. The ‘Momentum’ capability maps a match in real-time, visualizing key turning points and their causes (i.e. winners, aces etc.).
‘Keys to the Match’ is a feature within SlamTracker that leverages historical and immediate data to determine the top three things a player must do in order to do well in a specific match.
While SlamTracker is an example of how analytics drives insights for tennis, the uses for businesses are almost infinite. Businesses across multiple industries and geographies can gain insights from large volumes of data and then use that knowledge to choose the best strategies and better predict outcomes.
IBM SecondSight heads to Center Court
Following on from the 2011 pilot on Court 18, this year for the first time on Center Court, IBM will trial player movement tracking. With IBM SecondSight it will be possible to track the fastest moving players and how their performance changes, set by set and match by match. The system can provide new data that could help players, coaches, commentators and fans alike; and, add a new dimension to fan’s understanding of the science of tennis.
“This year a completely new website takes the understanding and insight into the Wimbledon Championships to a whole new level”, said Alan Flack, IBM’s Programme Executive for Wimbledon. “Using the power of cloud computing each individual data point is integrated instantaneously to deliver a powerful experience for fans, players, coaches and officials alike.”
Small to medium business’s are now looking beyond the cost and resource efficiencies that can be delivered from a cloud environment, they are now focused on how a cloud deployment can improve business outcomes and bring strategic value. In a recent study by IBM two thirds of senior managers surveyed had either implemented or intend to implement a cloud service here, with over 45% of UK business looking to do so over the next two years.
The most popular reasons identified for doing this are:
Increased ability for employees to work with greater mobility was number one
Cost efficiences was named as the number two reason
As cloud and DR Solutions continue to rise in popularity, businesses will be looking to technology providers known as Managed Service Providers (MSPs). The emergence of such MSPs is in response to a significant market shift as SMBs move their business applications to the cloud in order to increase their ability to work in a more mobile and flexible fashion. With limited IT resources, many are looking to a new kind of partner, to help them do this as they seek to off load the management of their IT infrastructure.
“Midsize firms are under increasing pressure to become more efficient and continue to identify new opportunities to grow their business,” explains Lubomir Cheytanov, director of midmarket sales at IBM in the UK and Ireland. “They are looking to local technology providers or MSPs with deep expertise and innovative cloud portfolio to move their business applications to the cloud.”
About the Cloud Research Study:
For the independent study, conducted by YouGov, the opinions of 530 senior managers at small and medium-sized companies in the United Kingdom were surveyed. It was conducted in the second quarter of 2012 to capture current and upcoming business and IT priorities for cloud computing and Cloud Readiness Assessment.
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