To: MileHigh who wrote (21122 ) 5/30/1999 12:41:00 AM From: John Koligman Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Yes, one of the tech surprises of the '90's, I would guess. Gerstner did it with a combination of very sharp strategic moves and some help from the marketplace. He was slammed pretty hard during his first few years because of his statement that IBM 'did not need a vision' at the time. He first concentrated on getting the financials in shape (layoffs and writeoffs), and then went to the 'vision' part. In my book the best part of this was the move into services and especially E-business. IBM is now perceived as the leading large E-business firm around, and Gerstner's statement that 20B in IBM revenues is tied to the internet went over quite well with WS. The one big trend that really has and should continue to help IBM is the internet. Large servers and high availability computing is right up IBM's alley. I remember all the talk years ago about how the Fortune 500 was going to unplug all their mainframes and go the PC route in short order. Did not happen, and will not happen anytime soon. IBM has a huge advantage in RAS with MVS and the mainframe. I enjoy jousting with some of the posters on the Intel thread that are impatient with the Merced delays, as they think as soon as that chip is available, that will kill off the mainframe. I simply ask them this - if you are the CIO of a Fortune 500 firm, will you bet your company on a new architecture, which is also running new *WINDOWS* software???? End of story. Inroads will be made, but it will take a good chunk of time.... As for Gerstner, his options I believe are worth close to the 500 million mark, so he has been well compensated. The real and unfortunate losers are all those loyal employees who got canned starting in the late 1980's and into the 1990's. The numbers are pretty staggering. IBM topped out in 1985-6 with around 402,000 employees. When Gerstner came in, the number dropped as low as 215,000 or so. Close to 200,000 folks gone. Many were in shock because they were used to the 'lifetime employment' pledge. Funny thing is, the outgoing CEO (Akers), was voted an additional 1 million dollars by his 'buddy board' in recognition of his 'longtime service' to IBM. Real garbage, although the board was overhauled when Gerstner came in<ggg>. Guess I've rambled enough, you are probably nodding off <ggg>, have a good weekend....
