For the benefit of logistics

On February 15, in Marseille, IBM and the shipping company CMA CGM Group, after long-term cooperation within a joint subsidiary, announced a new strategic partnership at the highest level and signed a 5-year agreement on the provision of IT services.

The shipping company CMA CGM is the largest in France and the third largest in the world, and is primarily engaged in container shipping. It operates a fleet of 390 vessels and serves more than 400 ports around the world. CMA CGM Group is represented on every continent, in 150 countries, through an international network of its regional branches, consisting of more than 650 offices and branches. The CMA CGM Group employs 18,000 people worldwide.

Under the terms of the new contract, IBM will provide a group of qualified experts in the field of cloud computing and analytics, who also have industry experience in the specialization of CMA CGM. In addition, IBM will support the growth of CMA CGM through the delivery of high-quality information technology services, which will help CMA CGM significantly reduce its costs.

The IT teams of the two companies will merge into a new subsidiary, CMA Systems, with equal representation of both parties in the management structure and accountability directly to Jacques Saade, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of CMA CGM. According to representatives of CMA CGM, new technologies and services developed by CMA Systems, along with its qualified specialists, will provide CMA CGM with significant cost savings in 2012.

“Innovative technologies from IBM will help CMA CGM improve the quality of service for our customers. This is one of the key competitive advantages of CMA CGM, said Mr. Saad. “The creation of this new partnership with a global market leader is of strategic importance for the CMA CGM Group. This partnership will allow us to offer our customers innovative, specialized IT solutions, and will also help improve our cost control. ”

In turn, IBM France President Alain Benichou noted that: "The new collaboration will provide an opportunity to support CMA CGM in managing performance and driving innovation through new technologies such as cloud computing and analytics."

Most likely, IBM specialists and technologies within the framework of this partnership will be used to optimize the time spent in the preliminary stages and during direct transportation, as well as to automatically select the optimal route, taking into account a wide variety of factors: from economic, political, environmental, to climate and terrorist.