LANSDALE, Pa. — IBM and ProtonMedia have entered into a teaming agreement that will result in the delivery of innovative, 3-D virtual collaboration and communication solutions engineered specifically for global life sciences organizations.
Under the terms of the agreement, ProtonMedia's ProtoSphere technology will be the basis for customized, 3-D virtual collaboration environments to create high-performance workplaces. IBM's Global Business Services division will provide consultancy, integration, deployment, and installation services to life science customers around the world, leveraging the ProtoSphere platform. The companies are also in discussions for cross-marketing initiatives for their solutions.
"We're excited to collaborate with ProtonMedia," said Cindy Skirvin, Partner of Strategy and Transformation Workforce and Talent Solutions for IBM Global Business Services. "By combining our strengths and breadth of technology services with ProtonMedia's virtual collaboration platform, we're enabling organizations to address some of the most pressing issues facing them today, including speeding decision-making across the entire product lifecycle, meeting human capital management needs, and improving workplace performance overall."
Skirvin recently joined ProtonMedia's Executive Advisory Board with Cisco's Greg Pelton and Microsoft's Sam Batterman. Skirvin and ProtonMedia CEO Ron Burns will be presenting at the Society of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Trainers (SPBT) Conference in Orlando, Fla., on June 9. Their workshop is entitled "Utilizing 3-D Virtual Worlds and Informal Learning in Employee Training and Collaboration." They will discuss how ProtoSphere is being used to help life sciences companies overcome the pressures to operate globally with effective remote teams, improved recruiting and onboarding, increased productivity and efficiency and reduced overall costs. They will explore lessons learned from these experiences, as well as ways that other life sciences companies can use ProtoSphere for their learning and collaboration needs.
"IBM continues to break new ground and lead life sciences with forward-thinking and innovative technology services," said Burns. "IBM recognizes that ProtoSphere has a significant installed base in life sciences, and that there are great opportunities for both companies to help life sciences organizations around the world lower costs, improve team productivity, and speed knowledge transfer using ProtoSphere. By pairing IBM's vast resources and domain expertise with ProtonMedia's leadership in business-focused virtual collaboration technology, it's clear the market can expect to see some eye-opening new developments in the near future."
