GK Software and IBM Collaborate to Deliver Edge Solutions at Scale for Enterprise Clients
GK Software today announced it is collaborating with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to help clients adopt an edge computing strategy designed to enable them to move data and applications seamlessly across hybrid cloud environments, from private data centers to the edge. GK Software’s CLOUD4RETAIL hosted on IBM Cloud to help drive innovation and enhance the omnichannel experience.
CLOUD4RETAIL is GK Software’s flexible, open commerce platform providing services for the operation of integrated unified commerce environments from in-store and online touchpoints through to mobile devices. The platform is enriched by innovative services such as AI-based dynamic pricing, personalization, fraud detection, and mobile applications. Now optimized on IBM Cloud, the industry’s most secured and open public cloud for business, the extensive expansion and customization options of the various CLOUD4RETAIL services, can be used on a wide range of devices.
GK Software will also extend the deployment flexibility of CLOUD4RETAIL by adopting Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform, allowing customers to run GK solutions across hybrid environments – from on-premises to multi-cloud environments and at the edge.
A recent IBM Institute for Business Value report, "Why organizations are betting on edge computing: Insights from the edge," revealed that 91% of the 1,500 executives surveyed indicated that their organizations plan to implement edge computing strategies within five years. IBM Edge Application Manager, an autonomous management solution that runs on Red Hat OpenShift, enables the secured deployment, continuous operations and remote management of AI, analytics, and IoT enterprise workloads to deliver real-time analysis and insights at scale. With the introduction of Intel® Secure Device Onboard (SDO) and multi-tenant support based on Intel technology, the solution enables enterprises to manage up to 40,000 edge devices simultaneously per edge hub. IBM Edge Application Manager is the industry’s first solution powered by open-source project, Linux Foundation Open Horizon.
"We look forward to collaborating with GK Software to help clients deploy, operate and manage thousands of endpoints throughout their operations with IBM Edge Application Manager," said Evarsitus Mainsah, GM, IBM Hybrid Cloud and Edge Ecosystem. "Together, we can help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation by acting on insights closer to where their data is being created, at the edge."
Michael Scheibner, Chief Strategy Officer of GK Software, commented: "GK Software and IBM share a long partnership in the retail industry and many common customers. We are very pleased to accompany retailers on their transition to the cloud in cooperation with IBM. We believe that we can make an excellent offer for holistic omnichannel processes based on state-of-the-art technology, especially to long-standing IBM customers."
GK Software is part of IBM’s partner ecosystem, collaborating with more than 30 equipment manufacturers, networking, IT & software providers to implement open standards-based cloudnative solutions that can autonomously manage edge applications at scale. IBM’s partner ecosystem fuels hybrid cloud environments by helping clients manage and modernize workloads from baremetal to multicloud and everything in between with Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform.
GK Software SE is a leading developer and provider of standard software for the retail sector, and currently counts 22 percent of the world’s 50 largest retailers among its customer base. According to a study published by RBR 2020, the Company is one of the leading international providers of POS software and is the fastest growing business in the industry in terms of the number of installations worldwide (without Hospitality and Petrol). The company offers an extensive range of solutions for stores and enterprise headquarters as well as for the implementation of contemporary omni-channel retail concepts. Thanks to its open and platform-independent software solutions in the GK/Retail Suite, the company has established itself as one of the market’s leading providers of technology and innovations. Its solutions enable retail chains with numerous stores to optimize their business processes and to benefit from significant potential for saving costs and implementing customer loyalty programs in order to improve their competitiveness. In addition to its own software solutions, GK Software SE also offers customers a comprehensive range of implementation and maintenance services. Having been acquired in 2012, AWEK GmbH and in 2015, the retail segment of DBS Data Business Systems Inc. In 2017, the company acquired a majority shareholding in prudsys AG, a company focused on artificial intelligence. In 2018, the valuephone GmbH was acquired, which develops leading solutions for mobile consumers. retail7 GmbH, specializing in cloud solutions for smaller retailers, was founded in 2020.
The company employs 1,159 members of staff (figures for 31 March 2021) across its headquarters in Schöneck (Germany) and other business locations in Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine and the USA. GK Software SE’s customers include many well-known retailers, including Adidas, Edeka, Lidl, Aldi, Coop (Switzerland), Netto Marken-Discount, Hornbach, Migros, Grupo Kuo and Walmart. The software is currently being used at almost 500,000 retail and payment installations across approximately 100,000 stores in more than 60 countries. The company has grown rapidly in recent years and its sales revenues totaled EUR 117.6 million in 2020. Since launching the company in 1990, the two founders Rainer Gläß (CEO) and Stephan Kronmüller (deputy board member), together with the experienced management team, have shaped GK Software into a profitable company exhibiting strong growth.
Further information about the company: [url=https://www.gk-software.com]https://www.gk-software.com[/url]
GK SOFTWARE SE
Waldstraße 7
08261 Schöneck
Telefon: +49 (37464) 84-0
Telefax: +49 (37464) 84-15
http://www.gk-software.com
Leiter Unternehmenskommunikation
Telefon: +49 (37464) 84264
Fax: +49 (37464) 84-15
E-Mail: rschiller@gk-software.com