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Exports and Investments

IBM Australia Export Activities

IBM Australia has made substantial exports of services, software and hardware to the Asia Pacific region since the mid-1980s.

In 2004, IBM Australia generated exports of more than AUD$650 million, up 6.4% from 2003 (which was up 17% from 2002). The vast bulk of those exports were high value services. More than 1,000 of IBM's employees in Australia are engaged in export-related work.

Key export facilities include the following:

IBM Asia Pacific Technical Services Centre
The Asia Pacific Technical Services Centre (AP TSC) was established in 1999, and now employs more than 270 staff with a range of multilingual skills.

The AP TSC, which is based in Brisbane, provides native language customer service support for the Asia Pacific region C these areas include technical support, telemarketing, administrative back-end support, and ISV support.

Services are delivered from the AP TSC in English, Japanese, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Centre for Advanced Studies
Australia's Centre for Advanced Studies, announced on April 1, 2005, is the umbrella institute covering IBM's research and development relationships in Australia. It invests over AUD$55 million in national research, with the aim of developing relevant and advance research links in Australia between IBM, universities, Australian Governments and the network of IBM Research Laboratories around the world.

The Centre for Advanced Studies also operates the IBM Australia PhD Program which provides Australian-based researchers with the access to IBM's worldwide research resources, helping to enable Australia to remain at the forefront of information, communication and technology research and development.

The Centre for Advanced Studies co-ordinates the work of the four A/NZ labs:

Lotus Web Content Management Lab - Sydney, NSW

  • Established in 2003 from the Aptrix acquisition, now employing more than 40 people.
  • Predominantly develops and supports Web Content Management for Domino & Java platforms and ships as a component of WebSphere Portal & Lotus Workplace.
  • Technical Skills include system level skills in WebSphere Portal, Lotus Notes, Windows, Unix, Domino, J2EE, HTTP servers, programming skills in C/C++, Java, VB.
  • Three patent applications filed currently.

Tivoli Security Lab - Gold Coast, QLD

  • Established in 2003 from the Dascom acquisition, currently employs more than 60 people.
  • Develops and supports Tivoli Access Manager for e-Business, Tivoli Federated Identity Manager, Tivoli Privacy Manager, General Security Toolkit (GSKit), IBM Crypto for C (ICC), Java Authorization Contract for Containers (JACC), Extended Java Security, Integration Factory for Tivoli Security products.
  • Links to local universities including UQ, QUT, Griffith University.

OzLabs, Linux Technology Centre - Canberra, ACT

  • Established in 2001 as part of the Linux Technology Centre worldwide, currently employs more than 16 people.
  • Product responsibilities include Open Source, all Linux kernel base enablement for iSeries, pSeries, Open Power & Blades, link to IBM Microelectronics (PowerPC processors for embedded applications) and close involvement in design and development of future POWER microprocessors.
  • Technical Skills include system level skills in Linux kernel & subsystems, Linux firewalls, distributed operating systems, Virtualisation technology (Open Source hypervisor).
  • Research connections to NICTA, UNSW, ANU.
  • Filed 12 patents last year.

Australian Programming Centre - Perth, WA

  • Established in Perth in 1988, to develop and support software which runs on IBM mainframe computers.
  • Currently employs more than 115 people, mainly highly experienced software developers, technical writers, testers and management and support staff.
  • Develops and supports z/Series, mainframe languages & tools, Tivoli Systems Management.
  • The Centre has contracts with IBM laboratories in Germany, UK, US, Canada and Japan.
  • Major products developed & supported: Languages, Compilers & Runtimes, Application Integration Middleware, Systems Management products.
  • Patents filed for HLASM & SCLM Developer Toolkit last year.
  • Links to local universities including UWA, ECU, Murdoch.

The IBM AP Regional Headquarters (APRHQ)
The Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters initiative aims to attract high value added positions to Australia from IBM's Asia Pacific locations. The APRHQ currently employs in excess of 300 people.

These roles generally involve the provision of executive level managerial, financial and technical services to the Asia Pacific region from either Sydney or Melbourne locations. These positions are essentially export focused roles as these employees are funded by IBM Asia Pacific.


IBM Business Transformation Outsourcing Centre
The IBM BTO Centre was launched on 4 July 2005 to provide business process transformation services, and will employ more than 100 staff in its first year of operation.

The IBM BTO Centre is co-located with the Asia Pacific Technical Services Centre in Brisbane, and will assist companies throughout the Asia Pacific region to optimise business performance and generate growth through the improvement and management of business processes and technology.