While at IBM Cognos Forum 2009 in Orlando I heard at least 3 different speakers make the point that IBM has invested over $10B on Information Management (IM) over the last four years.  What I found interesting was not the amount that IBM has spent, what is interesting to me are their "know-how" investments.  Whether it be in the form of Blueprints, Information Accelerators, packaged analytic applications, or their Innovation Centers, they strive to provide clients with the tools and practices to improve time to value and learn from the knowledge developed by those who traveled a similar path before.

IBM announced another significant bet in this area by creating a 4,000 resource strong IBM Global Business Services (GBS) business unit, called Business Analytics & Optimization, focused on BI and Performance Management, Content Management, EIM, and Advanced Analytics.  Will this consulting arm remain unbiased or will they become an engine for selling and implementing the IM portfolio?  And how will this group play with SAP whose products continue to be a major revenue stream for GBS?  Do the Blueprints and Information Accelerators provide enough industry or functional “know-how” to offset the fact that these are templates rather than supported applications?  Does this kind of vendor provided“know-how” influence your technology buying decisions?  Let me know what you think.