INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINE :
IBM Corporation, with headquarters in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology.
The company was founded in 1911 as the Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR) through a merger of three companies: the Tabulating Machine Company, the International Time Recording Company, and the Computing Scale Company.
CTR adopted the name International Business Machines in 1924, using a
name previously designated to CTR's subsidiary in Canada and later South
America. Its distinctive culture and product branding has given it the
nickname Big Blue. In 2012, Fortune ranked IBM the 2 largest U.S. firm in terms of number of employees (433,362), the 4 largest in terms of market capitalization, the 9 most profitable, and the 19 largest firm in terms of revenue.
Globally, the company was ranked the 31 largest in terms of revenue by Forbes for 2011. Other rankings for 2011/2012 include 1 company for leaders (Fortune), 1 green company worldwide (Newsweek), 2 best global brand (Interbrand), 2 most respected company (Barron's), 5 most admired company (Fortune), and 18 most innovative company (Fast Company). IBM has 12 research laboratories worldwide and, as of 2012, has held the record for most patents generated by a company for 19 consecutive years.
Its employees have garnered five Nobel Prizes, six Turing Awards, nine National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science. Famous inventions by IBM include the automated teller machine (ATM), the floppy disk, the hard disk drive, the magnetic stripe card, the relational database, the Universal Product Code (UPC), the financial swap, SABRE airline reservation system, DRAM, and Watson artificial intelligence.
The company has undergone several organizational changes since its inception, acquiring companies like SPSS (2009) and PwC consulting (2002), spinning off companies like Lexmark (1991), and selling off product lines like ThinkPad to Lenovo (2005).Sam Palmisano
stepped down as chief executive officer on January 1, 2012, but
retained his position as chairman. He was replaced by veteran IBMer Ginni Rometty.
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), incorporated on June 16,
1911, is an information technology (IT) company. IBM operates in five segments:
Global Technology Services (GTS), Global Business Services (GBS), Software,
Systems and Technology and Global Financing. GTS primarily provides IT
infrastructure services and business process services.
GBS provides
professional services and application management services. Software consists
primarily of middleware and operating systems software. Systems and Technology
provides clients with business solutions requiring advanced computing power and
storage capabilities. Global Financing invests in financing assets, leverages
with debt and manages the associated risks.
In May 2012, the Company acquired
Varicent Software Incorporated. In May 2012, the Company acquired Vivisimo. In
June 2012, the Company acquired Tealeaf Technology, Inc. On August 1, 2012,
Toshiba Tec Corporation acquired the retail store solution business from IBM.
In September 2012, it acquired Butterfly Software Ltd.
In April 2011, the Company acquired TRIRIGA, Inc. In October 2011, the
Company acquired i2. In October 2011, the Company acquired Algorithmics. In
October 2011, it acquired Q1 Labs Inc. In November 2011, the Company opened in
Romania its European site for developing and testing IBM switch and networking
hardware and software. In December 2011, the Company completed the acquisition
of Curam Software Ltd. In January 9, 2012, the Company acquired Platform
Computing.
In January 11, 2012, the Company acquired Green Hat. In February 1,
2012, the Company acquired Emptoris Inc. In February 15, 2012, the Company
acquired DemandTec Inc. In February 10, 2012, the Company completed the
acquisition of Worklight. In March 2012, the Company opened a new branch office
in Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
Global Technology Services :
GTC’s
services include Strategic Outsourcing Services, Global Process Services,
Integrated Technology Services, Maintenance and GTS Services Delivery. Its
Strategic outsourcing Services include IT outsourcing services. IBM integrates
its service management, technology and industry applications with new
technologies, such as cloud computing, analytics and virtualization.
Global
Process Services ranges from standardized processing platforms and business
process outsourcing, through transformational offerings, that deliver business
results to clients through the change and/or operation of the client's business
processes, applications and infrastructure, formerly business transformation
outsourcing. Integrated Technology Services is a project-based portfolio of
services. Maintenance is a line of support services from product maintenance
through solution support to maintain the availability of clients' IT
infrastructures.
IBM's GTS Services Delivery is responsible for the worldwide
delivery of IBM's technology- and process-based services
Software Technology :
Middleware software enables clients to integrate systems, processes and applications across a standard software platform. IBM middleware is designed on open standards, making it easier to integrate disparate business applications, developed by different methods and implemented at different times. The sale of OTC software includes one year of subscription and support.
Clients can also
purchase ongoing subscription and support after the first year, which includes
unspecified product upgrades and technical support. WebSphere Software delivers capabilities that enable clients to integrate
and manage business processes across their organizations. With a
services-oriented architecture (SOA), businesses can link together their
fragmented data and business processes to extract value from their existing
technology.
Smarter Commerce software enables interaction between companies,
their customers and suppliers throughout the business cycle. Information Management
Software enables clients to integrate, manage and use their information.
Solutions include advanced database management, enterprise content management,
information integration, data warehousing, performance management business
analytics and intelligence.
Tivoli Software helps clients manage their
technology and business assets. With solutions for identity management, data
security, storage management, cloud computing, enterprise mobility and the
ability to provide automation and provisioning of the datacenter, Tivoli helps
build the infrastructure needed to make systems from transportation to water,
energy and telecommunications.
Lotus Software enables businesses to connect
people and processes. Rational Software supports software development for both
IT, as well as complex and embedded system solutions with a suite of
Collaborative Lifecycle Management products. Security Systems Software provides
clients with a single security intelligence platform. Operating Systems
software manages the fundamental processes that make computers run.
Systems and Technology:
Systems and Technology provides semiconductor technology, products and
packaging solutions for IBM's own advanced technology needs and for external
clients. Systems are a range of general purpose and integrated systems designed
and optimized for specific business, public and scientific computing needs.
These systems, System z, Power Systems and System x, are typically the core
technology in data centers that provide required infrastructure for business
and institutions. Also, these systems form the foundation for IBM's integrated
offerings, such as IBM Smart Analytics, IBM Netezza, IBM SmartCloud Entry and
IBM BladeCenter for Cloud. IBM servers use both IBM and non-IBM microprocessor
technology and operating systems.
All IBM servers run Linux, a key open-source
operating system. Storage includes data storage products and solutions that allow clients to
retain and manage volumes of digital information. These solutions address
critical client requirements for information retention and archiving, security,
compliance and storage optimization, including data de-duplication,
availability and virtualization.
The portfolio consists of a range of disk and
tape storage systems and software, including the ultra-scalable disk storage
system XIV. Retail Store Solutions are provider of solutions that include
hardware, software and services for the retail industry, including
point-of-sale and self-service systems and peripherals. Microelectronics
include semiconductor design and manufacturing primarily for use in IBM systems
and storage products as well as delivering semiconductors and related services
to external clients.
Founder of IBM :
Thomas John Watson, Sr. (February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956) was the
chairman and CEO of International Business Machines (IBM),who oversaw that
company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956. Watson
developed IBM's distinctive management style and corporate culture, and turned
the company into a highly-effective selling organization, based largely around punched
card tabulating machines. A leading self-made industrialist, he was one of the
richest men of his time and was called the world's greatest salesman when he
died in 1956.
Thomas J. Watson was the only son of Thomas and Jane Fulton White
Watson. His four older siblings—Jennie, Effie, Loua and Emma—were girls.
His father farmed and owned a modest lumber business located near Painted Post, a few miles west of Elmira, in south central New York State. Thomas worked on the family farm in East Campbell, New York and attended the District School Number Five in the late 1870s. As Watson entered his teen years he attended Addison Academy In Addison, New York.
IBM's Chief Executive Officer Ginni
Rometty will succeed former CEO Sam Palmisano as chairman of the board,
cementing her transition as leader of the century-old company.
Rometty, 55, will take the new role
on Oct. 1, the same day that Palmisano steps down from the board, Armonk, New
York-based IBM said yesterday in a
statement. Palmisano, 61, will become a senior adviser until he retires on Dec.
1. Rometty took the reins at IBM in
January, becoming the company’s ninth CEO and its first female leader,
following stints in services, sales, strategy and marketing.
During her ascent,
she oversaw the integration of PricewaterhouseCoopers
Consulting, helping I build a staff of more than 100,000 consultants. Now she
faces the challenge of reinvigorating revenue after years of favoring profit
over top-line growth. “She’s an operations and a sales
person,” said Laurence Balter, an analyst with Oracle
Investment Research in Fox Island, Washington. “That bodes well for the role as
IBM starts to focus on their global growth, and she’s really a global- minded
leader.
It’s a good move from the board’s point of view.” Even so, IBM missed an opportunity
to keep the two jobs separate, something other companies are increasingly
doing, said Charles Elson, a corporate-governance professor at the University
of Delaware. Splitting the roles makes it easier for a board to stand up
against a CEO if something goes wrong.
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