[yeukhon]

To me, IBM is a dead company, no matter how cool Watson is. My perception of IBM is a consultant company. While IBM research still makes tons of awesome progress in AI and security, IBM looks like GE and Bell Lab to me. I don't know who is the legacy now... I wonder how IBM employees feel about their job.

[iends]

IBM's Q4 revenue was $27.7 billion. The consulting branch, Global Technology Services brought in $9.9B of that revenue. The software group, SWG, brought in $8.1B in revenue. (IBM is only making ~33M per year on Watson right now)

IBM is a bit more than a consulting company. They are in the midst of trying to reinvent themselves as more of a software company because the margins are so much greater than hardware.

IBM is screwing it's hardware employees, but the writing has been on the wall for a very long time. IBM employees got used to the idea that they could work at IBM for life, and retire with the company. They've either missed the signals or felt like layoffs couldn't happen to them. Many of the groups affected by the layoffs in IBM had a furlough last August. I don't know about you, but the moment a company says don't come to work for a week with reduced pay is the moment I start looking for a new job. (I do realize that many people at IBM stay loyal because they are on a pension program and they lose significant income if they voluntarily leave).

[rubinelli]

These numbers definitely don't tell the whole story. In my experience, the consulting branch is IBM's number one software sales force. Without it pushing products like DB2 and the Websphere line, the software group would have a tough time staying competitive.

[moonlighter]

>> I do realize that many people at IBM stay loyal because they are on a pension program and they lose significant income if they voluntarily leave.

...or don't want to leave the (significant) severance package on the table.

[kev009]

Reports of IBM's death are greatly exaggerated. People have been saying this for four decades when minicomputers rose, when the PC rose, when the server rose, when Linux rose.

IBM is a market maker and there is no other company quite like it. It always feels unintuitive when they shift, but I expect them to keep on chugging along and continuing to innovate.

[rayiner]

Lol at GE being a dead company. How's the weather in lalaland?

[abdelhai]

So GE is also a dead company?