Invest KOREA

IBM and Korea go way back.

The company installed Korea’s first computer in 1967 to process the 1966 Census. Ten years later, IBM Korea established the country’s first online account system with Kookmin Bank. It even supported the computerization of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

It’s no wonder IBM Korea is, as CFO Joseph Kern puts it, “perhaps more Korean than some Korean companies.” But when it comes to doing business, IBM Korea’s strategy of building a smarter planet mirrors that of global IBM’s operations in more than 170 countries. The idea is to take a common strategic approach to country-specific challenges.

“I think that’s what makes us strong,” said Kern, who joined IBM Korea last September. “We bring our global experience and capability, and marry it with a local culture and style, ensuring that we can easily adapt to any Korean company’s needs.”

Today, IBM Korea — which last month welcomed new CEO Shirley Yu-Tsui — runs the three main business units of services (IT solutions and business consulting), software and hardware. Expanding rapidly as part of global IBM’s Growth Markets Unit, based in Shanghai, the over-$1 billion company more than doubled its number of branches last year, going from four to 11 nationwide, not including its Seoul headquarters in Dogok-dong.

“Korea is an integral part of our growth market strategy, and is critical in helping many clients not only in the domestic market, but those active in markets outside Korea,” Kern said.

Major investments made in the past eight years attest to IBM Korea’s commitment to helping clients expand and growing with them. In 2004, IBM created the Ubiquitous Computing Lab in Korea — an achievement that reflects Korea’s leading role in pervasive computing.

The opening of the Korea Software Solution Lab in 2007 demonstrated the importance of Korea as a marketplace of advanced technologies, he added. The Cloud Computing Center was opened in 2008 in Seoul, which was followed by the establishment of IBM Business Park in Songdo in 2010. Last year, the company added to the business park the Smarter Application Development Management (ADM) Center, which is staffed largely with students from Seoul’s Myongji University, many of whom go on to become IBM Korea employees.

Whether it’s how to go to market or company structuring, IBM Korea follows global IBM’s strategic five-year roadmap. The 2015 roadmap aims to deliver earnings per share of $20 or better, with revenue from growth markets approaching 30 percent of IBM’s total revenue. Yet when it comes to mindset and culture, IBM Korea’s employees work with clients with a distinctly local style and approach. After all, the Korean marketplace is unlike any other.

“I would say that Korea is one of the most IT literate [countries] and boasts infrastructure which makes it one of the most advanced IT societies in the world,” Kern said. “This is the first place a lot of companies can test new technologies and new ways of doing business. I have to admit that I’m amazed with my own smartphone here.”

Of course, Korea’s position at the forefront of technology means constant innovation and change.

“Our products, services and software will change over time. Tomorrow we’ll have something new, courtesy of our worldwide network and ongoing global research, including research taking place in Korea. IBM is one of the world’s leading investors in research,” said Kern. “You never know what the future will bring, but we’re confident that at IBM we’ll be at the forefront of providing innovative solutions, and we’ll adapt and adjust those solutions to our domestic clients’ needs.”