InterConnect officially kicked off this morning with an opening keynote full of powerhouse companies like Twitter, American Airlines, IndieGoGo, and Delos. Throughout the many and varied speakers, a few key themes emerged:
1. The data explosion is an imminent crisis – one that IBM is tackling.
Between the Internet of Things and the ever-increasing velocity of data collection, data storage is going to be a critical emergency in the coming years, and 80% of that data will be unstructured. And it is relevant to every technology sector, not just those explicitly data focused. We heard about data in each of the many speakers during the keynote, whether they were discussing customer experience, cloud, or even gaming. IBM is tackling this crisis through their public cloud, the most advanced public cloud on the market, because it is designed around data and not applications, providing the foundation for Watson.
2. Security has been a barrier to cloud for many organizations – another obstacle IBM is crushing.
Recognizing that security is a major issue for many of the remaining companies who have not adopted cloud in some way, IBM announced a partnership with Intel to create Security Cloud Virtualization Service. Powered by Watson, the automated security system powers the most secure public cloud service available. Watson makes responses to threats more effective and faster than ever before. In fact, it is 60x faster than a person in detecting threats.
3. Watson + IBM Cloud = Conquer Anything
As you can see in the first two takeaways, it’s all about Watson and cloud. Watson can’t exist without the IBM Cloud foundation. The IBM Cloud can’t power innovation and a secure environment without Watson. Together, these elements leverage and transform your biggest asset: data. Each customer story showed how they combined Watson and cloud to innovate and accelerate digital transformation. Delos, for example, uses Watson and cloud to “measure everything” to inform and create better buildings that support wellness. PlayFab uses these tools to create better gaming experiences for kids. The possibilities are endless, but as Arvind Krishna, VP of Hybrid Cloud at IBM, said during the keynote, “Your passion and innovation brings technology to life.”
The biggest theme throughout the keynote seemed to be that IBM is making huge strides to enable companies to innovate. Innovation is powered by data, and these changes to IBM’s offerings allow data storage, access, and usability. Each of IBM’s announcements focused on eliminating the barriers that prevent companies from digital transformation, and ultimately, innovation.
I’d love to hear your perspective. What did you think of the keynote?
