Frost & Sullivan Recognizes IBM for its Watson Cognitive Computing Platform, Accessible User Interface, and Visionary Growth Pipeline Strategy

IBM is seeding the Big Data and analytics market with Watson, using free trials, a well-funded developer ecosystem, and college-level coursework collaborations

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, Sept. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the Big Data and analytics market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes IBM's Watson business unit with the 2015 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Visionary Innovation Leadership. While competitors focus on commercializing advanced database technologies, machine learning algorithms and analytics for use by data scientists, IBM has leaped ahead with its Watson technology, and by empowering non-technical users, by providing monetary and development support directly to the growing Watson ecosystem, and by co-developing Watson-based coursework with more than 100 colleges and universities.

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Highlights from the company's powerful Watson portfolio include Watson's natural language user interface and the Watson cognitive computing platform, which not only reads, or "ingests," huge volumes and varieties of data, but also finds the links and develops the context to make all this data understandable and useful to humans. Watson continues to learn as it interacts with more users and answers more questions.

More than 300 business partners and 70,000 developers are actively engaged in the Watson ecosystem (Watson Developer Cloud). "The IBM Watson Group works directly with application developers, both large and small, to apply Watson's cognitive computing capabilities to a growing variety of use cases based on engagement, discovery, policy and decision support," said Stratecast | Frost & Sullivan Big Data & Analytics Industry Analyst, Sandy Borthick. "For example, UK-based Red Ant uses Watson to power its SellSmart application that enables in-store salespersons to quickly and accurately answer customer questions, while US-based WayBlazer uses Watson to provide personalized travel recommendations."

IBM continues to add functionality to Watson from its acquisitions, such as AlchemyAPI, and through its joint development with IBM Research, where significant research talent is dedicated to innovating the Watson platform with new capabilities such as new industry domains and new languages.

IBM's decision to create a dedicated Watson business unit continues the company's 100-year history of radical product innovation and its commitment to a vibrant corporate culture. In many large organizations, a vast gap exists between the visionary rhetoric of leaders and the day-to-day operations of business units. IBM expects its work with Watson to not only maintain IBM's cultural heritage and values, but also to find ways to evolve that culture, by adapting to today's fast-paced business environment and by transferring those lessons to the rest of IBM.

"Visionary Innovation is about innovating today to drive the future, by anticipating needs before they actually emerge and become visible. IBM is doing exactly that through its Watson initiative in the Big Data and analytics market, with its singular focus on making Big Data and analytics more accessible, and through its commitment to furthering the development of cognitive computing," said Frost & Sullivan President and Managing Partner Krishna Srinivasan.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated the understanding to leverage global Mega Trends and integrate the vision into processes to achieve strategic excellence. The award recognizes the efficacy of the recipient's innovative process and the impact it has on business and society at large.

Frost & Sullivan's Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for outstanding achievement in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research.

About IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing

Watson is the first commercially available cognitive computing technology. With the help of Watson, organizations are harnessing the power of cognitive computing to transform industries, help professionals do their jobs better, and solve important challenges.

IBM has established a growing ecosystem of developers, students, entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts worldwide by placing the power of cognitive computing in their hands. More than 25 Watson services are available on the IBM Watson Developer Cloud on Bluemix, allowing these innovators to discover, explore and create an entirely new class of apps and businesses fueled by Watson. This community of tens of thousands of tech enthusiasts and Ecosystem Partners are already generating up to 3 billion monthly API requests, demonstrating the adoption of the open platform.

For more information on IBM Watson, visit: ibm.com/watsonecosystem.

Check out the IBM Watson press kit at: http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/27297.wss

Join the conversation at #ibmwatson. Follow Watson on Facebook and see Watson on YouTube and Flickr.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact us: Start the discussion.

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