ibm-competitors

IBM Competitors

Business / By /

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is an American multinational technology company. It was founded in New York as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911 by Charles Ranlett Flint. IBM is a diverse company with a similarly diverse portfolio of products and services. It produces and sells hardware, middleware, and software. It also offers hosting and consultancy services in nanotechnology and mainframe computers. What’s more, IBM has a strong culture in research and development, filing the most U.S. patents of any business for the past 28 years.

 

CompetitorDescriptionKey InsightsCompetitive OverlapDifferentiation
MicrosoftA multinational technology company that offers a wide range of software, cloud services, and hardware products, including operating systems and productivity tools. Microsoft competes with IBM in various enterprise technology and cloud computing markets.Microsoft provides software, cloud services (Azure), productivity tools (Office 365), and hardware products, with a focus on enterprise solutions and cloud computing.Both offer enterprise technology solutions and cloud services, competing in areas like cloud computing, AI, and productivity software.Microsoft’s strong presence in productivity tools (Office 365) and its Azure cloud platform.
Amazon Web Services (AWS)A subsidiary of Amazon that offers cloud computing services, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS). AWS competes with IBM in the cloud computing and infrastructure services market.AWS provides a wide range of cloud services, hosting solutions, and AI/ML tools, serving enterprises and startups.Both compete in the cloud computing market, but AWS is a leading player in IaaS and PaaS, emphasizing scalability and innovation.AWS’s dominant position in the cloud infrastructure market and extensive service offerings.
Google CloudThe cloud computing division of Alphabet Inc. (Google), offering cloud infrastructure, data analytics, machine learning, and productivity tools. Google Cloud competes with IBM in the cloud computing and data analytics market.Google Cloud provides cloud infrastructure (Google Cloud Platform), data analytics (BigQuery), and machine learning services (TensorFlow), targeting enterprises and developers.Both compete in cloud computing and data analytics, with Google Cloud focusing on data analytics and machine learning capabilities.Google Cloud’s strength in data analytics and machine learning technologies.
OracleA multinational technology company specializing in database software, cloud computing, and enterprise software applications. Oracle competes with IBM in the database management, enterprise software, and cloud services market.Oracle offers database software (Oracle Database), cloud services (Oracle Cloud), and enterprise software solutions (Oracle Applications) for businesses and organizations.Both provide database management, enterprise software, and cloud services, with Oracle emphasizing its database and enterprise software strengths.Oracle’s focus on database technology and enterprise applications.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)A multinational enterprise information technology company providing a wide range of hardware, software, and services, including data center infrastructure solutions. HPE competes with IBM in the data center infrastructure and IT services market.HPE offers hardware solutions (servers, storage, networking), software (HPE OneView), and IT services, with a focus on data center modernization and hybrid cloud solutions.Both compete in the data center infrastructure and IT services market, with HPE specializing in data center modernization and hybrid cloud.HPE’s expertise in data center infrastructure and hybrid cloud solutions.
SAPA multinational software corporation known for its enterprise software applications, including ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and business intelligence solutions. SAP competes with IBM in the enterprise software and data analytics market.SAP provides enterprise software solutions for business operations, including ERP, CRM, and analytics, with a focus on helping organizations streamline processes.Both offer enterprise software solutions and data analytics, with SAP specializing in ERP and business applications.SAP’s emphasis on ERP and business software applications.
Dell TechnologiesA multinational technology company offering hardware, software, and IT services, including data storage, server solutions, and cloud computing. Dell Technologies competes with IBM in the data center infrastructure and IT services market.Dell Technologies provides a range of hardware solutions (Dell EMC), software (VMware), and IT services, with a focus on modernizing data centers and hybrid cloud environments.Both compete in data center infrastructure and IT services, with Dell Technologies emphasizing data center modernization and hybrid cloud solutions.Dell Technologies’ expertise in data center hardware and hybrid cloud offerings.
SalesforceA cloud-based software company known for its customer relationship management (CRM) and business application solutions. Salesforce competes with IBM in the CRM, cloud computing, and business software market.Salesforce offers CRM, marketing automation, and application development solutions, with a focus on helping businesses manage customer relationships and streamline operations.Both compete in CRM and cloud computing, with Salesforce specializing in cloud-based business applications and customer engagement solutions.Salesforce’s strong presence in CRM and cloud-based business applications.
VMwareA subsidiary of Dell Technologies, VMware specializes in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions, including virtual machines and software-defined networking. VMware competes with IBM in the virtualization and cloud infrastructure market.VMware provides virtualization technologies and cloud infrastructure solutions for businesses, enabling efficient resource management and flexibility.Both compete in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, with VMware focusing on virtualization technologies and software-defined infrastructure.VMware’s expertise in virtualization and software-defined infrastructure solutions.
Cisco SystemsA multinational technology conglomerate that provides networking hardware, software, and IT solutions for businesses and organizations. Cisco Systems competes with IBM in the networking, cybersecurity, and IT infrastructure market.Cisco offers networking solutions, cybersecurity products, and IT infrastructure services, with a focus on connectivity, security, and cloud networking.Both compete in networking and IT infrastructure, with Cisco specializing in networking hardware and cybersecurity solutions.Cisco’s strengths in networking, security, and cloud networking solutions.
IBM-business-model
Started in 1911 as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), called then International Business Machines by 1924. IBM primarily makes money by five segments (cognitive solutions, global business services, technology services, and cloud platforms, systems, and global financing) with also innovative products such as IBM Watson and IBM Blockchain.

Cloud computing

cloud-business-models
Cloud business models are all built on top of cloud computing, a concept that took over around 2006 when former Google’s CEO Eric Schmit mentioned it. Most cloud-based business models can be classified as IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), or SaaS (Software as a Service). While those models are primarily monetized via subscriptions, they are monetized via pay-as-you-go revenue models and hybrid models (subscriptions + pay-as-you-go).

In cloud computing, IBM combines platform as a service (PaaS) with infrastructure as a service (Iaas). The service, named IBM Cloud, scales and supports the development of small organizations and large enterprise businesses alike.

paas-business-model
PaaS stands for the platform as a service. Together with other “as-a-service” models, this model’s basic premise is to offer a solution to the final customer without having to host it on-premise, with complex implementations and large overhead. The PaaS model is a form of evolved cloud computing. The provider, together with virtualization, storage, network, and servers, provides middleware and runtime to the user/customer, which only handles data and applications.

In cloud computing, the main IBM competitors include AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google.

Consultancy services

The majority of IBM’s revenue comes from the services industry. Some of the main competitors in this industry include:

  • Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – an Indian IT solutions company founded in 1968. TCS has a focus on helping clients from a range of industries meet their objectives by leading them through technological transformation. This is achieved through a portfolio of integrated solutions, consulting, and outsourcing.
  • Accenture – an Irish consultancy, strategy, and digital transformation company founded in 1989. Accenture helps organizations prepare for the future via digitization in many industries, including media, capital markets, oil, transportation, and public health.
  • Infosys – another Indian company providing business consultancy and IT services with a core focus on manufacturing and insurance. Infosys products include management consulting, artificial intelligence and global banking platforms, and digital marketing.
  • Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) – founded in 2015 as part of the Hewlett-Packard company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a business-focused organization in servers, storage, networking, consulting, support, and financial services. After just six years in operation, HPE revenue reached $6.8 billion in Q1 2021.

Software and hardware

Within the software industry, IBM sells software products in API management, enterprise identity mapping, security, digital experience, DevOps, Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, and planning analytics. 

devops-engineering
DevOps refers to a series of practices performed to perform automated software development processes. It is a conjugation of the term “development” and “operations” to emphasize how functions integrate across IT teams. DevOps strategies promote seamless building, testing, and deployment of products. It aims to bridge a gap between development and operations teams to streamline the development altogether.

These products place the company in direct competition with many large players, including Adobe, Symantec, Microsoft, and Amazon. 

In terms of computer hardware manufacturing, IBM is up against Hewlett Packard, Oracle, and Dell.

Global financing

IBM Global Financing (IGF) was founded in 1981 as an organization composed of sellers, accountants, analysts, and business credit and pricing specialists. More succinctly, IGF helps clients design, build, and run businesses with IBM expertise and infrastructure.

Today, it is the largest IT financier in the world with more than $36 billion in assets. Some of the major competitors in global financing have been acquired by IBM over the years, including PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, Bluewolf, and Promontory Financial Group.

Key takeaways:

  • IBM is a large and extremely diverse American multinational technology company. 
  • With a diverse product and service portfolio, many of the most significant IBM competitors can be found in the services industry. These include Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Tata Consultancy Services, and Accenture.
  • IBM is also up against giants such as Adobe, Microsoft, and Amazon in software production. In hardware, competition is provided by Hewlett Packard, Oracle, and Dell. However, the company enjoys relative dominance in global financing after acquiring several major competitors.

Key Competitors of IBM:

  • Cloud Computing:
    • IBM Cloud competes with AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
    • Offers platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS).
  • Consultancy Services:
    • Competitors in the services industry include Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Accenture, Infosys, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
    • Focus on technological transformation, digitization, IT services, and consulting.
  • Software and Hardware:
    • IBM’s software products compete with Adobe, Symantec, Microsoft, and Amazon.
    • In hardware, competitors include Hewlett Packard, Oracle, and Dell.
    • Offers software in API management, security, digital experience, IoT solutions, and more.
    • Competes in computer hardware manufacturing.
  • Global Financing:
    • IBM Global Financing (IGF) is the largest IT financier, competing with other financial institutions.
    • Acquired competitors like PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting, Bluewolf, and Promontory Financial Group.

Related Visual Stories

IBM Business Model

IBM Revenue

ibm-revenue
In 2018, revenue was $80 billion. Revenue decreased to $77 billion in 2019. In 2020, revenue dropped further to $73.62 billion. The revenue saw a significant decline in 2021, reaching $57.35 billion. In 2022, revenue experienced a slight increase, amounting to $60.53 billion.

IBM Profits

ibm-profits
2019: Net income increased from $8.73 billion in 2018 to $9 billion, resulting in a 3.09% increase year over year. 2020: Net income decreased to $5.59 billion, reflecting a -37.89% change compared to 2019. 2021: Net income slightly increased to $5.74 billion, indicating a 2.68% increase year over year compared to 2020. 2022: Net income decreased significantly to $1.64 billion, showing a -71.43% change compared to 2021.

IBM Revenue Breakdown

ibm-revenue-breakdown
Software revenue increased from $23.42 billion in 2021 to $25 billion in 2022, resulting in a 6.73% growth year over year. Consulting revenue grew from $17.84 billion in 2021 to $19.1 billion in 2022, reflecting a 7.08% growth year over year. Infrastructure revenue rose from $14.2 billion in 2021 to $15.3 billion in 2022, indicating a 7.75% growth year over year. Financing revenue declined from $0.774 billion in 2021 to $0.645 billion in 2022, showing a -16.67% decrease year over year. Other revenue experienced a significant drop from $1.12 billion in 2021 to $0.453 billion in 2022, resulting in a -59.55% decrease year over year.

IBM Cost Structure

ibm-cost-structure
Software: Generated $25 billion in revenue. Contributed $19.94 billion in gross profit. Consulting: Produced $19.1 billion in revenue. Accounted for $4.86 billion in gross profit. Infrastructure: Brought in $15.3 billion in revenue. Generated $8 billion in gross profit.

Read Next: Organizational Structure.

You Might Want To Read Also: How Does IBM Make Money, Microsoft Subsidiaries, Google Subsidiaries, Amazon Subsidiaries, Warren Buffett Companies, Bill Gates Companies, Jeff Bezos Companies, Proptech Companies, Fintech Companies.

Competitors Case Studies

Zoominfo Competitors

zoominfo-competitors
Zoominfo is an American software-as-a-service (SaaS) company founded by Henry Schuck and Kirk Brown in 2007. The company sells access to the most comprehensive B2B database in the world to help sales and marketing teams better communicate with prospects. Zoominfo held an IPO in June 2020 raising $935 million. Like similar software companies that are valuable to remote teams, demand for the Zoominfo platform increased because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is now used by over 20,000 businesses, with clients including T-Mobile, Zoom, Amazon, and Google.

Spotify Competitors

spotify-competitors
Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming platform with over 381 million users across 184 markets around the world. The company was founded by Martin Lorentzon and Daniel Ek in 2008 in response to the shutdown of peer-to-peer music service Napster. Spotify became a success because it was the first company to determine how to distribute music legally and compensate the music industry at the same time. The platform now offers various curated music discovery services, music stations, audio customization, and private listening. In recent times, it has also ventured into the streaming of audiobooks, podcasts, comedy, poetry, and short stories.

Poshmark Competitors

poshmark-competitors
Poshmark is a social commerce marketplace where users can buy and sell new or used clothing. The company was founded in 2011 by Manish Chandra, Tracy Sun, Gautam Golwala, and Chetan Pungaliya. Poshmark is one of many companies looking to profit from the explosive growth in the second-hand clothing and resale industry, which is expected to be worth around $51 billion by 2023. Scores of women, in particular, are opting to sell their unwanted fashion items online instead of donating them to charity or thrift stores.

Afterpay Competitors

afterpay-competitors
Afterpay is an Australian fintech company operating in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the United States.  Founded in 2014 by Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen, the company enjoyed a first-mover advantage in the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) space. Less than seven years later, the company reached 13.1 million active customers with gross sales amounting to $10.1 billion. Despite its success, some suggest the company has lost its edge in the buy-now-pay-later space with the emergence of several high-profile competitors exerting their influence and giving merchants more choice.

Carvana Competitors

carvana-competitors
Carvana is an online used car retailer with vending machines located around the United States. The company was founded in 2012 by Ryan Keeton, Ben Huston, and Ernest Garcia III. The company is the fastest growing online used car retailer in North America and was recently one of the youngest companies to be added to the Fortune 500 list. While Carvana is currently the only American company selling cars in vending machines, its growth and success have not gone unnoticed by other players. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the company’s major competitors.

Carvana Competitors

carvana-competitors
Carvana is an online used car retailer with vending machines located around the United States. The company was founded in 2012 by Ryan Keeton, Ben Huston, and Ernest Garcia III. The company is the fastest growing online used car retailer in North America and was recently one of the youngest companies to be added to the Fortune 500 list. While Carvana is currently the only American company selling cars in vending machines, its growth and success have not gone unnoticed by other players. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the company’s major competitors.

GoodRx Competitors

goodrx-competitors
GoodRx is an American healthcare company known for its telemedicine platform and a website and mobile app that track prescription drug prices. As part of this service, the company makes drug coupons available for free to consumers. GoodRx was created by Trevor Bezdek, Doug Hirsch, and Scott Marlette. Hirsch, an early employee at both Yahoo and Facebook, got the idea for the company after picking up a prescription with private health insurance and still having to pay $450. Given the high variability in prices between different pharmacies, Hirsh went on a mission to make prescription drug prices more transparent and affordable for ordinary Americans. Revenue in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to $177 million with over 7.5 million app customers using the GoodRx app. While the company was the first to provide a comprehensive list of pharmacy drug prices, new players have entered the market. The rest of this article will be devoted to looking at the main GoodRx competitors.

DoorDash Competitors

DoorDash Competitors
DoorDash is an online food ordering and delivery platform founded by Tony Xu, Stanley Tang, Andy Fang, and Evan Moore in 2013. Together with its subsidiaries, DoorDash has a 56% market share in food delivery and a further 60% in the convenience delivery sector.

Pepsi Competitors

pepsi-competitors
In 1965, PepsiCo acquired Frito-Lay in what the chairmen of both companies called a “marriage made in heaven”. The resultant company transformed PepsiCo from a soft drink organization and set it on a path to becoming one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies.  Today, PepsiCo claims to operate in more than 200 countries and territories around the world with seven distinct divisions and many successful brands.

Coca-Cola Competitors

coca-cola-competitors
The Coca-Cola Company has 21 different billion-dollar brands or brands that generate more than $1 billion or more in revenue each year.  The company also sells its products in nearly every country in the world, with Cuba and North Korea the only two countries where it is not sold officially. What’s more, the Coca-Cola brand is worth $87.6 billion, making it one of the most valuable among all companies. Though these figures allow Coca-Cola to enjoy market dominance in many countries, the company is nevertheless subject to intense competition.

Disney Competitors

disney-competitors
Headquartered in Burbank, California, Disney has global reach and influence with its universally popular resorts, movies, streaming services, video games, and merchandise.  But as one of the largest media conglomerates in the world with a diverse range of products in multiple marketplaces, Disney is no stranger to competition. 

IBM Competitors

ibm-competitors
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is an American multinational technology company. It was founded in New York as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911 by Charles Ranlett Flint. IBM is a diverse company with a similarly diverse portfolio of products and services. It produces and sells hardware, middleware, and software. It also offers hosting and consultancy services in nanotechnology and mainframe computers. What’s more, IBM has a strong culture in research and development, filing the most U.S. patents of any business for the past 28 years.

Uber Competitors

uber-competitors

Starbucks Competitors

starbucks-competitors
Starbucks is a multinational coffee chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker in 1971. From a single and very humble bean roasting store in Pike Place Market, the company is now a global giant operating almost 33,000 stores around the world. This large global footprint obviously increases the competition for Starbucks in many different markets. The coffee industry itself is also highly competitive, with established players including McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Boeing Competitors

boeing-competitors
Boeing is best known for designing and manufacturing commercial aircraft, but the company also produces helicopters, rockets, satellites, spacecraft, missiles, and telecommunications infrastructure. Founded in 1916 by William Boeing in Seattle, Washington, the company is one of the largest aerospace manufacturers and defense contractors in the world.

Google Competitors

google-competitors
While Google (now Alphabet) has been born as a search engine, it is now a diversified company, even though its core business remains search, as most of its revenues still come from Google, the search engine, and YouTube, the “video engine.” However, as a tech giant, which business is primarily based on advertising, the company does compete with Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft (with Bing), and Amazon (with e-commerce search and its advertising machine).

Peloton Competitors

peloton-competitors
Peloton is a media and exercise equipment company primarily making money making money via its fitness products. The idea for the company came from John Foley, who argued that technology could help time-poor individuals get a full workout at home. The company competes with other players like Bowflex, NordicTrack, Life Fitness, MYX Fitness.

IKEA Competitors

ikea-competitors
IKEA was founded in 1943 by Swedish businessman Ingvar Kamprad as a mail-order catalog business. The company is best known for selling affordable flat-pack furniture, but it also sells home accessories and kitchen appliances. Today, IKEA offers approximately 9,500 products across 445 stores in 52 countries. With such broad reach, IKEA is not immune to competition.

Airbnb Competitors

airbnb-competitors
The Airbnb story began in 2008 when two friends shared their accommodation with three travelers looking for a place to stay. Just over a decade later, it is estimated that the company now accounts for over 20% of the vacation rental industry. As a travel platform, Airbnb competes with other brands like Booking.com, VRBO, FlipKey, and given its massive amount of traffic from Google. Also, platforms like Google Travel can be considered potential competitors able to cannibalize part of Airbnb’s market.

Salesforce Competitors

salesforce-competitors
Salesforce is a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) provider, allowing businesses to build meaningful and sustained relationships with their customers. With robust, customizable software that integrates with social media, Gmail, and Microsoft Outlook, the Salesforce CRM platform is rated highly among businesses of all shapes and sizes. Recent data has shown that the company has captured 19.5% of the global CRM market.

Shopify Competitors

shopify-competitors
In just fifteen short years, Shopify has grown from humble beginnings to become one of the fastest-growing eCommerce platforms online. The Shopify eCommerce solution is perhaps best suited to users who desire an easy, flexible and affordable starter solution for their online store. The provider now has upwards of 820,000 stores accounting for 20% of the total market share. However, the continued success of any company in the dynamic digital market is never guaranteed.

Netflix Competitors

netflix-competitors
Netflix is the largest streaming video subscription service in the world. Created by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1997, the company has revolutionized the video content subscription model with over 139 million subscribers in 190 countries. The success of Netflix is due to two factors. The first is a recommendation system that gives suggestions on what customers should watch based on their viewing history. The second is the vast catalog of content on offer – produced by third parties and by Netflix itself. These factors have resulted in Netflix competing against influential TV networks and film producers for viewership.

Nike Competitors

nike-competitors

YouTube Competitors

youtube-competitors
YouTube is the most popular online video platform, a hybrid between a video search engine and a social media platform with a continuous feed prompted by social interactions and engagement. In fact, the platform is so popular that YouTube.com is the second most visited website on the internet. After being acquired by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion, the platform now boasts over 2 billion registered users. Collectively, these users upload 500 hours of video every minute. The platform competes with other video engines like Vimeo, Dailymotion, and social platforms like IGTV, TikTok, and Twitch.

Zoom Competitors

zoom-competitors
Zoom is a video platform, which enabled remote working. As such it competes with other large tech players like Google and Microsoft for the productivity space, and other startups like Slack and Go-To-Meetings.

Tesla Competitors

tesla-competitors
As an electric automaker and builder of sports cars and now trucks, Tesla’s competitors comprise companies like Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi, Rivian Lucid Motors, Toyota, and more. At the same time, Tesla is an electric energy production and storage company (SolarCity); it competes with Sunrun, SunPower, and Vivint Solar. And as an autonomous driving company, it competes with companies like Zoox, Waymo, and Baidu with the self-driving software.

Amazon Competitors

amazon-competitors
Amazon is a consumer e-commerce platform with a diversified business model spanning across e-commerce, cloud, advertising, streaming, and more. Over the years, Amazon acquired several companies. As it operates across several industries, Amazon has a wide range of competitors across each of those industries. For instance, Amazon E-commerce competes with Shopify, Wix, Google, Etsy, eBay, BigCommerce.

More Resources

Discover more from FourWeekMBA

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top
FourWeekMBA