The New Blue :: essays research papers

About IBM The Big somber IBMs history dates back decades sooner the development of electronic estimators Big Blue was officially born in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, a conglom datetion of other companies that started in the 1880s. Since then, the company has been subservient in the development of mainframes, calculators, personal computers, networking, softw atomic number 18, and several scientific breakthroughs. Four IBM researchers expect won Nobel prizes. In 1990, IBM had its most profitable year ever. By 1993, the computer industry had changed so rapidly the company was on its way to losing $16 billion and IBM was on a watch list for extinction ill-used by its own lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and the PC era IBM had itself helped invent. Since that time, IBM has made major changes in its business activities, shifting its focus importantly away from components and hardware and towards software and services. In 1993, Lou Gerstner was b rought in to run IBM. He moved the companys focus to services, and re-established IBM as the biggest computer consulting and services company in the world. However, nearly after a decade, Big Blue was still losing capital on PCs, a market it helped launch. Gerstner was succeeded by Samuel J. Palmisano in 2002. The New Blue under the Leadership of PalmisanoThe style of Sam Palmisano may be minimise compared to his predecessor, Louis Gerstner. But the strategy moves the 52 year old has made since he became the chairman and chief executive of IBM less than two years past have been bold, even risky. If successful, his strategy promises to redefine not only IBM, and also what it means to be a computer company. IBM is no longitudinal content to be merely a supplier of hardware and software, and seeks to bewilder more a side-by-side partner with businesses - helping them improve their marketing, planning, procurement and node service. The aim is to create a very deep connection betw een IBM and its customers, and at that level it is a very powerful strategy. But its devising IBM more like a service business with technology impel in than a technology business. To pursue this strategy, Palmisano needed to add expertise in business consulting and software. In 2002 the largest purchases came when he acquired PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting for $3.5 billion and Rational software product for $2.1 billion. More fundamental changes have come in 2003, and some are just now falling into place.