IBM Consulting opens its eleventh client innovation center in India

IBM Consulting has opened its eleventh client innovation center (CIC) in the country in Bhubaneshwar to cater growing business transformation needs of its clients, the company said on Monday.

The Center was inaugurated by Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha in the presence of Amit Sharma, Managing Partner - Global Delivery, IBM Consulting, along with officials from the Government of Odisha and IBM. This is in line with IBM’s strategy to expand in emerging cities to get access to the unexplored talent available across the country.

The company has around 4,000 clients including government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications, and healthcare.

The global IT major said the expanded presence in Bhubaneswar will create opportunities for existing employees as well as enable the company to harness the potential talent including graduate hires from the technical educational ecosystem in Odisha.

“Bhubaneswar is fast emerging as a key talent hub in the country and this Center will provide these technology professionals the opportunity to do impactful work for clients not just in India but across the world,” said Amit Sharma, Managing Partner - global delivery, IBM Consulting.

With the new unit, IBM Consulting now has eleven CIC locations in India, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, National Capital Region, Pune, Mysuru, Kochi, and Coimbatore. The new CIC will leverage the IBM Garage method of delivery, an approach that helps IBM ‘Co-create’, ‘Co-execute’, and ‘Co-operate’ transformative business and complex technology solutions with its clients and ecosystem partners, the company said.

Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik commented, “Odisha is now fast emerging as a technology resource hub of India. Seizing the immense scope available in this land of opportunity, most IT companies have set foot in Bhubaneswar. The enabling environment, facilitation service, and huge talent pool available here have turned Odisha into a destination of choice. Opening up of the IBM Client Innovation Center adds yet another watershed moment, signifying the fast-changing IT ecosystem in the state.”

IBM employs 140,000 in over 175 countries, and it is one of the largest multinational employers in India. However, the company did not disclose the number of people working at the new center in Bhubaneshwar.