Trip report: IBM Think on Tour 2026 (Singapore)

Editor's notes:

1. See disclosures at bottom

2. Expect a separate, broader analysis of today's IBM because this got too long.

It can be easy to dismiss IBM. Perhaps too easy.

My humourless example is one of my teenagers once asking "Dad, what's IBM?" to which I replied "Why do you ask?" Their answer: "I heard it mentioned in Fight Club". I suspect this is the typical low level of knowledge of IBM among the potential next generation of tech workers.

For those in the industry, it's probably the mainframe or one of the high profile failures of IBM Global Services (example: #CensusFail) or a nervous laugh when talking to an ex-IBMer^ about the company.

The event

IBM Think Singapore took place on 21st July 2026. It appears to be one of three such IBM events across Asia in 2026 along with Mumbai and Tokyo (invite only, for what that means).

The good

Customer participation: A diverse range of modern and traditional enterprises onstage sharing their experiences, including Grab, Ventia, KPJ Healthcare, Keppel and Trust Bank. In Virtified's experience, vested interests often underpin the willingness of customers to participate in such events such that they should be taken 'with a grain of salt'. Nonetheless, their stories painted IBM as a strategic partner.

Heritage, legacy and reinvigoration: As a rule, IBM knows its customers very well. Most are large, conservative and slow—and on many occasions IBM can seem the same. Thirty years ago, IBM was the indisputable home of tenured IT professionals and experienced senior management. That was not always the case as recently as five years ago—but it's changing again and for the better. Senior leadership is returning to those halcyon days but with experience that comes from both inside and outside the organisation. Under CEO Arvind Krishna there's an undeniable rising enthusiasm and humility. Don't get me wrong, IBM needs to reduce complexity, increase its relevance and expand its ability to serve midsize organisations beyond big banks and government agencies.

The not-so-good

Lack of partners: Despite the rhetoric about the importance of partners, I noted very few partner booths (less than 10). This will be something to watch if IBM is going to succeed in its plan to expand reach and relevance beyond the global 2000.

Early morning Singapore skyline with cloud (my photo, stylised)

The research insights

Open source:

Of most relevance to Virtified, representatives of IBM senior leadership acknowledged they are comfortable with their open source offerings being commercial open source software—with all the implications therein.

It may be subtle to some (it's all free isn't it?) but in reality it poses significant challenges for avoiding lock-in. Oh the irony. The core targets are classic IBM (large enterprise) customers who—rightly—prioritise support over ideology. However, it will also be an increasing point of friction for sovereign requirements particularly (but not exclusively) in Europe. SUSE's demonstrated commitment provides an example of what to consider (see SLES Designated as a Digital Public Good). Strategic impact: Low today (use it or don't) to high in the long term (as an antidote to aggressive price hikes from proprietary software vendors). Scope: all users of IBM open source offerings including Red Hat and Hashicorp.

LinuxONE: Linux at scale (IBM estimates roughly equal to 2,000 - almost 3,000 x86 cores).

Suitability: Large-scale consolidated 'build not buy' Linux environments requiring high availability. Commercial Linux support includes SUSE and Ubuntu (as well as Red Hat). Other options include Alpine.

Note: I knew almost nothing about it...and didn't think it was anything more than Linux-on-the-mainframe.

Quantum: It's far from my day-to-day coverage but worth noting you can buy a 156 qubit quantum server from IBM today (heading toward 2,000+ logical qubits around 2033, according to their roadmap ). They are likely to be hosted by IBM but they can be installed on-prem if you have access to cryogenic cooling.

Observation: Quantum is here.

Recommendation: Get ready. Ensure you are protecting your existing information assets against harvesting now for the inevitable "Q-Day" (with some estimates suggesting as early as 2029).

Quantum sidenote: Will "Q-Day" be the next Y2K?

Other

1. Apptio remains a high-value IBM offering that fits with their strengths—and helps address the perennial enterprise challenge of running IT like a business.

2. I'm still not entirely sure how IBM Consulting differs from Kyndryl. Both espouse a vendor-agnostic approach but my interpretation is that Kyndryl operates in the classic integrator / outsourcer role whereas IBM Consulting is in the role of strategic engagement, ideation / prototyping and customer enablement.

Disclosures:

1. Virtified travelled to the event at the invite of IBM. Travel and living expenses were paid for by IBM, which is common industry practice. In fact, I note that several of my former colleagues were sitting comfortably at the front end of the plane (whereas I was definitely down the back!)

2. No revenue was offered or obtained in the publication of this research.

3. IBM is not a client of Virtified. As always, it wouldn't matter if they were. Our research independently covers organisational use of technology and associated trends.

4. IBM were not offered the chance to review this research prior to publishing. Formally-published Virtified research does undergo vendor factor review prior to publishing, which is also common industry practice.

Note to self: standardise the above blurbage.

^ I joined IBM in 1997 to continue working with Tivoli, which I had implemented as a customer. I worked in IBM Software through 2001 in both technical pre-sales and, later, Tivoli professional services (TPS)...ultimately entering first-line management of the local TPS team.