Geoff Woollacott

Editor’s note: Geoff Woollacott is Senior Strategy Consultant and Principal Analyst, and Patrick M. Heffernan is Principal Analyst and Practice Manager at Technology Business Research. This is the second of a two-part report. Part one is available online. HAMPTON, N.H. – Sea kayaks in the rapids of change: IBM and EMC IBM, long a bellwether company for the U.S. economy in general and the technology industry specifically, has been in the news for several years as it invests heavily to develop cloud, cognitive and quantum technologies while combatting challenges from the shifts in external market forces eroding its core businesses....

HAMPTON, N.H. – The discussions of a Long-term Stock Exchange (LTSE), or an exchange that would reward investors the longer they hold their shares, flow out of Silicon Valley. Contrarians argue it is just startups with no short-term revenue seeking relief from the rules of the traditional exchanges. They are right on the intentions but wrong on the impact. The impact is something TBR described in a recent commentary as an impending Digital Dust Bowl. If we do not want to exacerbate the impending economic disruptions that will accelerate as emerging technologies commercialize, we must have a national debate...

Editor’s note: Big Blue is disrupting the global payments processing trust network, boosting commerce and pressuring trust institutions with a new blockchain offering, says Technology Business Research Analyst Geoff Woollacott. HAMPTON, N.H. – Technology innovation — from promise to proof-of-concept testing to live implementations benefitting large segments of the world’s population — continues accelerating at break-neck speed. The IBM (NYSE: IBM) announcement on Monday of a new blockchain banking solution in partnership with Stellar.org and KlickEx Group brings immediate value to the South Pacific — specifically as it optimizes the commercial interactions of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga with anchor...

Editor’s note: IBM is rolling out very aggressively an entire ecosystem focusing on blockchain technology, but many questions remain unanswered about the emerging tech, says Technology Business Research Analyst Geoff Woollacott. This is the third of a three-part report. The previous two parts are linked with this post. HAMPTON, N.H. – IBM allows customers to define what is right for them; choice in standards also requires choice in consumption models One size does not fit all for blockchain ecosystem development nor does it fit for the monetization of the investments. IBM will help manage the increased transaction volume flowing...

Editor’s note: In the second part of an in-depth examination of IBM’s blockchain strategy, Technology Business Research Analyst Geoff Woollacott examines crucial governance details. (Read part one in WTW’s arcuive) HAMPTON, N.H. – As with most new initiatives, the devil is in the details, and IBM articulated the emerging business models its customers say they prefer and that IBM has focused on accommodating through its composable IP assets. A major success factor for ecosystem development will be how ecosystem participants will be viewed as either autocratic or democratic. The emerging ecosystem models include:  Sponsored — or autocratic —...

Editor’s note: In the second of a two-part report abot robotics’ threat to jobs for humans in the future, Geoff Woollacott, Senior Strategy Consultant and Principal Analyst at Technology Business Research, outlines ideas from IBM to help people stay employed. (Note: Part one focuses on Bill Gates’ idea of taxing robots.) HAMPTON, N.H. – IBM acts on a best-in-class way forward via public-private partnerships That IBM would oppose a national automation tax makes sense on many levels, beyond the simple notion that it is just a big business trying to defend the status quo. The tax implications would shift...

Editor’s note: Geoff Woollacott is Senior Strategy Consultant & Principal Analyst and Joey Cresta, Public Sector Analyst at Technology Business Research. This is the second of three parts. HAMPTON, N.H. – President-elect Donald Trump’s calls on the campaign trail to increase the size of the U.S. Army and Marine Corps instilled confidence that his policies would benefit defense contractors, although those most likely to benefit appear to be the large aerospace and defense vendors with significant platform businesses, such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. There has been less certainty around how his policies would impact federal IT vendors,...

Editor’s note: Geoff Woollacott is Senior Strategy Consultant & Principal Analyst and Joey Cresta, Public Sector Analyst at Technology Business Research. This is the first of three parts. HAMPTON, N.H. – In press parlance, the president-elect appears to be “walking back” from some of the rhetorical excesses of his campaign. Trump’s Cabinet selections include several very conventional picks and some seemingly disruptive ones. The selections provide us some indication of what a Trump presidency will bring for the economy in general and the government IT market specifically, and some indications of where true, transformative technology-enabling public and private partnerships...

Editor’s note: The election of Donald Trump to be the 45th president of the United States caught pollsters and pundits by surprise. What does his election mean for the technology sector? Analysts from Technology Business Research take an in-depth view. HAMPTON, N.H. – The election of Donald Trump to be the 45th president of the United States caught pollsters and pundits by surprise. President-elect Trump is the first person to reach this point possessing no prior political or military experience since our nation’s founding, meaning there’s literally no historical precedent. At a very high level, it can be argued...