To expand its range of technology and services immediately available to clients developing digital commerce and marketing strategies, IBM Corp. has forged a new business unit, IBM Commerce, that combines consulting services with software sales.

“We’re now offering more software and consulting together, and focusing on end-to-end commerce,” says Deepak Advani, general manager of IBM Commerce.

Advani, who has filled several positions related to e-commerce software, web analytics and marketing technology and services at IBM and computer manufacturer Lenovo, says IBM Commerce is combining consulting and software sales to better assist business-to-business and retail companies in deploying e-commerce technology along with web analytics and digital marketing systems. In effect, the move positions IBM to better sell and deploy its full scope of commerce-related technology, including WebSphere Commerce e-commerce software, SPSS predictive analytics, Emptoris procurement software, IBM digital marketing, Sterling order management, and IBM’s cloud-based services for hosting software and data on the web.

While IBM Commerce serves both retail and B2B clients, it began to increase its focus on the B2B e-commerce market in the second half of last year and will continue to place more emphasis on it this year, Advani says.

IBM Commerce replaces IBM Smarter Commerce, which focused mostly on software sales separately from consulting services, he adds. Craig Hayman, a former head of the Smarter Commerce operation, left IBM last year to become president of eBay Inc.’s eBay Enterprise e-commerce technology unit. 

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