This week's issue of Newsweek examines the potential impact of IBM's decision to allow companies developing applications for health and education (think EMR systems) complete and unfettered access to its intellectual property. The logic behind the strategy is straightforward: Holding on to all of those patents does the company little good; by releasing them to the world at large, IBM stands to generate more work for its consulting business. This is particularly true in healthcare, where open source has yet to become a truly viable business line. That may well change, and IBM, which does not have a healthcare software line but sells plenty of servers and consulting services, is emphasizing the hardware and services model.
- see this article from Newsweek
ALSO: What exactly is IBM up to? For more on Big Blue's healthcare strategies, read Jack Mason's post on HealthNex. Blog