IBM Eye

IBM has been the technology provider to the Australian Open Grand-Slam Tennis Championships for 14 years now. Since 1993, IBM’s partnership with the tournament has seen a significant investment of technology and new features for the fans and customers of the event.

In addition to the official Australian Open website, IBM has their own website with more details on the technology behind the scenes, and some of the history of IBM’s involvement in the tournament - IBM’s Australian Open website (uses Flash - there’s also a no flash version).

Come behind the scenes and learn how IBM helped the Australian Open transform from a grass roots sporting tradition to a world class business. See how a process of constant innovation has made the Australian Open truly world class, driving revenue growth while containing costs and staying ahead of the competition.

Discover how IBM helps the Australian Open scale up to meet the demands of audiences over an intense two-weeks of competition and how the tournament has evolved over the past 101 years.

Interesting parts of the site: history of the Australian Open championships, and of IBM’s involvement in them; a behind the scenes tour of the technology in use; some statistics and results from the tournament; some case studies on the Australian Open, US Open and Wimbeldon.

IBM’s new PointTracker technology shows an animated view of each shot in the match for some of the singles matches in the Rod Laver arena. Click on the thumbnail on the left for a screenshot showing what the point tracker looks like in action. Or you can just go try it for yourself at the official site: PointTracker. I’ll be following along with the matches on my computer while I work using the Java based IBM On Demand Scoreboard.