IBM Named Leader in Cloud Hosting and Integration Services

ARMONK, NY--(Marketwired - Aug 4, 2015) - IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that it has been named a leader in four key cloud services categories by leading independent technology market research firm Technology Business Research, Inc. (TBR). These categories include hosting, overall cloud professional services, cloud consulting services and systems integration. The independent analysis, published in TBR's latest cloud business quarterly report, " Hosted Private & Professional Services Cloud Benchmark," provides a market synopsis and growth estimates for 29 cloud providers in the first quarter of 2015. TBR named IBM:

• The undisputed growth leader in overall professional cloud services
• The leader in hosted private cloud and managed cloud services
• A leader in OpenStack vendor acquisitions and OpenStack cloud initiatives
• A growth leader in cloud consulting services, bridging the gap between technology and strategy consulting
• A growth leader in cloud systems integration services

According to the report, "IBM's leading position across all categories remains unchallenged as the company's established SoftLayer and Bluemix portfolios, coupled with in-house cloud and solutions integration expertise, provide enterprises with end-to-end solutions." The report goes on say that IBM's focus on building out industry specific cloud capabilities, as well as its embrace of open-source technology, helped it gain a leadership position in many categories. In addition to this recognition, the TBR report noted IBM as one of the few companies to provide end-to-end IT cloud solutions and services, making it stand out in the market for its strengths in hybrid cloud integration and traditional IT management capabilities. The report shows that demand for managed services has increased drastically over the past three years. It also suggests that trend will continue as cloud environments mature, specifically as customers require vendor management and support for complex, multivendor cloud environments, or look for a full range of services from a single vendor. TBR predicts that demand for cloud professional services will reach $56 billion by 2020. About TBR Technology Business Research, Inc. is a leading independent technology market research and consulting firm specializing in the business and financial analyses of hardware, software, professional services, telecom and enterprise network vendors, and operators. Serving a global clientele, TBR provides timely and actionable market research and business intelligence in a format that is uniquely tailored to clients' needs. Our analysts are available to further address client-specific issues or information needs on an inquiry or proprietary consulting basis. TBR has been empowering corporate decision makers since 1996. For more information please visit www.tbri.com. About IBM Cloud For more information about cloud offerings from IBM, visit www.ibm.com/cloud. Follow us on Twitter @IBMcloud and on our blog at www.thoughtsoncloud.com. Join the conversation #ibmcloud.