An article entitled Innovating IT defense to boost “offense” in the era of digital transformation was published by Business+IT on March 20, 2019 (in Japanese). The interview included:

  • Mathew Stava – CEO at Spinnaker Support
  • Vivek Mahajan – GM, GTS Technology Support Services at IBM Corporation
  • Kohsei Watanabe – VP, Technology Support Services, GTS at IBM Japan

Introduction

For companies to maintain sustainable growth in a rapidly changing environment, they must become flexible entities that respond speedily to changing needs and advance their digital transformation. There is a tendency for businesses to focus only on “offensive IT” to increase competitiveness and create new value, but what about their “IT defense,” a fundamental component that supports the realization of growth? IBM Japan (hereafter IBM), which has been providing longterm support to numerous companies by stewarding their IT operations, and Spinnaker Support, a leading global provider of third-party support and managed services for organizations that run SAP or Oracle, recently spoke to us about how to optimize “IT defense” in the digital transformation era.

Each of the interviewees answers the following questions in depth.

  • What do you think about recent changes in the state of business for corporations? Can you compare the situation in Japan and overseas?
  • When promoting digital transformation, “IT defense,” in other words core systems such as legacy systems is a critical issue.
  • There are many companies and IT departments that have placed their resources in defense and may not be able to focus on tactics that are more offensive. Is there a solution to overcome this predicament?
  • I hear that IBM and Spinnaker Support are working together to offer full-scale third-party maintenance services in Japan. What kind of support do you offer specifically?
  • Tell us about the unique value and advantage that IBM and Spinnaker Support can offer.
  • Finally, could you comment on the future prospects of the company?

Read the full article.