IBM or international business machines for the slower bunch, is the computer company your grandparents know and trust. But that poor connotation hasn’t stopped the old tech gladiator. IBM has been building a plan and buying up start ups like a crack head running low on supply, all so that IBM might not face the same fate as GE or something of the sort.
IBM is synonymous with tech but the dust has been layering on the century old giant for the past 20 years. Well, that giant is waking up and starting to make moves. The first order of business for the company was to snatch up several cloud-based companies and fintech companies. Some of the startups include Taos Mountain, Instana, 7Summits, and TruQua Enterprises. Their ambition is obviously to take their hardware skyward, and not by like a bomb or something, but to literally convert most of their business to the cloud in the coming years. Those acquisitions paired with the synergies IBM earns from its earlier acquisition of Redhat has put IBM back in the limelight and made them a competitor of sorts to companies like Oracle and Mircosoft. Artificial Intelligence is also becoming a big focus for the company as it leans off its less profitable segments and focuses on core competencies.
There is no doubt a long, uphill battle is ahead. IBM is not in a good place either, just this quarter they are reporting a profit decline of 50 percent or more. The age old firm is in trouble but by making small pivots and focusing on what they do best, IBM might not have a so similar fate as GE or Nokia. Although IBM is still held in high regard as an innovator, that branding has diminished with the companies lack of revolutions in the very industries they once dominated.
IBM is not out of the fight yet, and the company will have to continue making strategic, cost effective decisions if they plan to keep the lines on, and the Wi-Fi running. IBM is slowly cutting down the dollars and time spent on ideas that just won’t work. They are turning back to what they do so well, which will hopefully lift the public confidence in the company as well as the stock price. Although IBM has been losing out in the past decade, they are hoping to turn these pivots and acquisitions into the profit machines and cash flow cows.
Anyway, that’s my take on it. Until next time. -GS
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