IBM will take a classic approach to fostering the use of its products in emerging markets — that is, it will seed the development community with technical support and software product access. In this case, the company is looking to convert developers in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) to using its gear in developing applications based on “open standards.” IBM, once the world champion of proprietary products, has been pushing open standards and open source for several years now. When IBM talks open standards, it means non-Microsoft operating systems, application servers, and middleware.

IBM will provide more than 40 “virtual enablement workshops” through its Virtual Innovation Center. Before the advent of browser-based development of rich internet applications (RIA) based on web services, developer support programs were costly to implement and administer due to the need to install discounted but still expensive hardware. Adding the international element complicated matters with export restrictions, customs duties, and license agreements that protected the intellectual property installed on those computers. Web-based access and this Virtual Innovation Center trump most of these concerns.

Why is IBM investing in BRIC? IBM’s vice president of ISV and developer relations for emerging markets Mark Hanny said that the company’s revenue rose more than 25 percent in those countries last quarter, a critical growth factor given
IBM’s pains in the first half of 2005. Besides getting developers in those countries accustomed to using its gear — and buying it once their companies grow — IBM will tap into the innovative solutions popping up in emerging markets. While those new applications will run on anybody’s Linux, they’ll show up in IBM’s software catalog first. Meanwhile, the company’s new program will increase the globalization of software product development — likely at the expense of high-wage centers in the U.S. and Western Europe.