When you think of Las Vegas, enterprise software probably doesn't come to mind. But this week, we have a large Box crew in town for IBM Insight, IBM's massive data and analytics conference. And just months after first announcing our extensive partnership with IBM, we're excited to be participating in a number of keynotes and sessions to show current and prospective customers how our joint solutions can transform the way they work.

We're only two days in, but already we've had a bunch of great discussions. I wanted to highlight some key points from two main stage sessions specifically, starting with Aaron's appearance in yesterday's opening keynote on business transformation, and then my dialogue in today's keynote on the power of content.

Bringing Intelligence to Business Information

Yesterday, Bob Picciano, SVP of IBM's Information & Analytics Group, talked to a packed theater about how IBM is bringing intelligence to new categories of information. He emphasized the importance of partnering with businesses that lead their respective spaces. For instance, IBM's partnership with The Weather Company brings analytics to vast amounts of weather data, helping marketers make better decisions in the process.

Bob then highlighted another area where analytics could be revolutionary: unstructured corporate data, which most people interact with daily. Aaron Levie, our co-founder and CEO, joined Bob onstage to explain how IBM's world-class content management capabilities like advanced analytics, workflow and eDiscovery can be transformative when combined with Box's end-user friendly content management and collaboration platform. By integrating our platforms and developing joint solutions, the IBM and Box partnership will transform the way people across industries work.

As Aaron put it, 'there's an amazing opportunity to combine our technologies.' IBM and Box are committed to bringing intelligence to the content people work with everyday, accelerating business processes and enabling all new ways to work in the process.

Exploring the Power of Content

Earlier today, Rich Howarth, VP of IBM ECM, kicked off a sweeping keynote exploring the power of content. He highlighted the opportunity to make content smarter (and people smarter along with it), but stressed that content is only data when we can understand it. In the past, he explained, ECM has been largely separate from the world of analytics. That's now changing, as IBM continues to apply analytics to ECM to make content more powerful.

Later in the keynote, Rich welcomed me onstage to discuss how Box and IBM are working together. While it's only been four months since we announced the partnership, together we've already delivered joint solutions across a range of IBM products: Content Navigator, StoredIQ, Case Manager and Datacap.

Rich kicked off the conversation by saying that the Box partnership is the largest he's ever been a part of at IBM, and that's certainly true on Box's side. We discussed how the world of ECM is evolving rapidly, as the latest Forrester Wave on ECM Business Content Services -- where both Box and IBM are recognized as leaders -- clearly demonstrates. Requirements for ECM have changed significantly as enterprises embrace more modern ways of working. Mobile, for instance, is no longer an option. It's now a requirement for businesses, regardless of industry.

Rich then asked me to explain why Box chose to partner with IBM. That was easy. First off, we want to work with the leaders in our industry, and IBM is a clear leader in ECM, with an unmatched depth of experience in areas that Box doesn't cover, like case management. Secondly, IBM has tremendous global reach. While Box is growing quickly, we're still a newer entrant in the enterprise (relatively speaking), and IBM's global scale and go-to-market prowess is enormously beneficial to Box as bring joint solutions to enterprises around the world. Not to mention the leverage we'll get out of IBM's global data centers through our work with Softlayer.

Overall, the first two days of IBM Insight have been incredibly exciting and inspiring for the Boxers on the ground. Both companies are fully committed to this partnership, and we'll continue to invest in transforming work for our joint customers.

distributed by