IBM's New Hook

CIO Magazine (online) ^ | 1 July 03 | CHRISTOPHER KOCH

[for-q-clinton]

ping

[muawiyah]

Our top brass either believe the IBM-type propaganda or they believe themselves capable of doing those things.

Some of the IBM ads leave me rolling on the floor, wet britches and all, because they so closely parallel the company propaganda we get delivered to us on a daily basis.

Fortunately at the moment the brass are enthralled with their "blackberries" and are looking forward to their improved "blueberries".

Most have forgotten how to read a wrist watch.

I think I will invest everything in IBM stock. They've got the brass figured out!

[Golden Eagle]

Interesting read, what's the poster's take? To me, the article was very long for not really saying much. I did find this three quarters way down:

Open source gives IBM a weapon against its only real competitor, Microsoft, and it makes IBM look good to the IT community.

That seems like a pretty subjective and all encompasing statement, myself being a member of IT and personally feeling it makes them look bad. A little further down at the start of the fourth page we find:

With e-business on-demand, IBM is gambling with its most valuable asset: the trust of the market.

They have little choice. Being simultaneously caught between a securities fraud investigation as well as being sued for billions of dollars for technology theft, their PR departement is being forced to respond with everything they have.

[dfrussell]

I worked for the division of IBM which supported companies like Walmart etc. until recently.

Management and Sales went out and essentially underbid everyone and wrote contracts whose cost decreased yearly for up to 7 years... they assumed economy of scale and repeat business would allow them to recoup the losses.

When they discovered they were incorrect, they worked us like dogs: I had months with over 100 hours a week. The clients were billed for the hours and we got a pittance of the time in an additional bonus.

A combination of raiding the pension fund, having "gay benefits/rights" and EEO shoved down your throat and the unremitting demand for more time caused a good percentage of the permanent employees in the lower tier of pension to quit.

Everyone I know who still works there said it sucks even worse now.

The person in charge of IBM's IGS while this was all happening is now their new CEO.

Ten years ago, IBM's focus was technology and service, and it was a good company for which to work.

Management's primary concern is now "diversity" and short-term profits... even if they're only on paper.

[JRandomFreeper]

And the truth is, IT has not delivered on its promises to the enterprise.

Somewhat. Mostly.

There have been productivity gains with computers, but they have generally been delivered by mavricks that don't work for IT. And often have to fend off the IT department to accomplish what they want to do.

IT can't be managed from the top any more than cats can be herded. Cats and innovaters have to be coaxed.

All 6 cats in this house come to the call of: "Seeeewwwwwieeee, pig, pig, pig... " because they get a treat. (Yes, I'm warped) But if you try to herd them anywhere, they suddenly get smart and remember their E&E (escape and evasion) training.

Which is why I'm out of the business.

I'd rather flip burgers than try to nail jello to a tree. Year after year after year.

/john

[Richard Kimball]

Well, I can sell them laptops for only $2500 each, and all they have to do to reboot them is turn them upside down and shake.

Click here to see an online version of it. Have your people contact my people, we'll do lunch and throw it down the well and see if anyone salutes it.

[Nick Danger]

There are two schools of thought on the fundamental issue being raised here, and I don't imagine we will ever see one of those visions totally overwhelm the other.

In the end, business is about Return on Assets, and management is about maximizing return on assets. At one time, truly large American companies were highly vertically integrated. As soon as they got to scale at doing any damned thing, they brought it in-house. If a company got big enough in virtually any business, it would one day be running a trucking fleet, an ad agency... hell, some of 'em probably bought their own paper plant because they were using so much paper.

The other point of view on this is to say, "we don't want to tie up assets in anything that is not our core business." We make widgets, we know how make widgets. What the hell are we doing running an amateur-night trucking company, a lousy little ad agency that never attracts any good people, and so on. The principle here is that if you do not know how to maximize the return on assets invested in an activity, then don't put your assets in it, because that way lies lower return on assets.

Can you really run a data center better than IBM or EDS can? Some will say yes to that and be right. But most can't say that truthfully. They're in the building supplies business, or they make ethical drugs. If half their capital budgets are really tied up in IT equipment instead of drug-making equipment or cement factories, then something is probably wrong, and it's probably 'empire builders' in the IT department and a decade of not noticing how big they were really getting.

Well, nothing called "CIO Magazine" is ever going to suggest that maybe the CIO needs a haircut, but it's not unreasonable to ask the question: if you really are the world leader in plastic water pumps, why the hell is 50% of your capital tied up in IT equipment? Is running a big IT show your core competence, or would you get a higher return on those assets if they were deployed in your main business that you are an expert in?

IBM's pitch will sound good to those who want to maximize return on assets, and IBM's pitch will sound bizarre to those who want to maximize assets per se.

outsourcing is what it has always been: a risky strategy that according to numerous surveys fails to achieve either better service or reduced costs 50 percent of the time.

That's an interesting way to put that. What I heard is that half the people running in-house IT departments would be better off not doing that. The big gain isn't even the reduced costs -- it's getting the cash back that's tied up in wires and boxes. Put that in the core business, and you might make some money with it.

[Bogey78O]

We must invest in our employees because they're the ones who make us money. Which is why we offer to them a free coffee cup with the company logo.

Enjoy.

[Bogey78O]

Large companies get this weird handicap where certain kneejerk reactionary policies are implemented because they're the "hot" idea now.

It's like how when the internet broke out absolutely everyone wanted their own website and domain name. They just needed one becuase that's something that they just needed.

[lelio]

More than a year ago, American Express outsourced much of its IT group to IBM in what was hailed as the first example of IT as an outsourced utility.

Any idea if this is working? My guess is that it was done as some projects weren't completed on time. Now its still not completed on time, but its harder to blame someone.

[JRandomFreeper]

Which is why we offer to them a free coffee cup with the company logo.

You're going to need coffee in those cups, and I can deliver it. After all, I'm just a cook.

print pack"C*",split/\D+/,`echo "16iII*o\U@{$/=$z;[(pop,pop,unpack"H*",<>
)]}\EsMsKsN0[lN*1lK[d2%Sa2/d0< X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0< J]dsJxp"|dc`

/john

[DManA]

The way it's going, we won't have to worry about any of this. It will ALL be India's problem.

[PFKEY]

I get the impression that you wished you still worked for IBM.

[PFKEY]

I'd rather flip burgers than try to nail jello to a tree.

Good one. I'll have to add that to my collection.

My favorite is still
"I'd rather sandpaper a lion's ass."

[JRandomFreeper]

LOL! Dad used to say "tickle a tiger under the tail with a toothbrush" but he's Baptist...

But I did it. I quit. Took the package and enrolled in culinary school. I graduate in 3 months if the AF Reserves don't NMI. It's hard getting over being a geek, but I think I'll survive. ;>)

/john

[PFKEY]

More than a year ago, American Express outsourced much of its IT group to IBM in what was hailed as the first example of IT as an outsourced utility.

I think outsourcing IT has been going on for a little more than a year. Call it a utility or whatever.

[PFKEY]

I think I like your Dad's way of saying it better.

[JRandomFreeper]

It certainly has alliteration working for it.

/john

[RightOnline]

For those of us who just may know a little bit about the 'on-demand' strategy, offerings, architecture, etc...........let's just say that this article is so full of holes and outright misrepresentations as to be utterly laughable. The clown that wrote this should be ashamed, for I can shoot it down in numerous ways in one phone call.....but he sure as hell didn't talk to me, or anyone else who happens to know what's really going on, for that matter.

Guess I just can't stand people who pretend to be "experts" who pontificate in writing and haven't the slightest f**king idea what they're talking about. I guess I'm just funny that way.