IBM the Next Great Software Company?

Diomidis Spinellis writes "A report in this week's Economist discusses IBM's globalization strategy and the company's presence in India. Refreshingly, the article admits that there's more to outsourcing than cheap labor, contrasting IBM's calculated investments with Apple's rapid pull-out from Bangalore. Although the jury is still out on how sluggish multinationals can compete with vigorous tigers, it seems that IBM has a credible strategy for becoming the next great software company, and that outsourcing is only a part of the puzzle."

IBM is in the computer business now?

[stratjakt]

What a retarded article. They were (and still are) the first great software company.

I remember cheering Microsoft for toppling their monopoly.

Re:IBM is in the computer business now?

[flynt]

You do realize something can be a former X without precluding it from being a future X. IBM may have been the first great software company, but it does not follow that it will not be the next great software company. Is that your assertion? Grover Cleveland may beg to differ.

Re:IBM's Strategy

[shotgunsaint]

Lotus Notes is definitely some pretty clunky bloatware... but have you ever had to administer an Exchange server? It's a nightmare. As I have no experience administering a Lotus Notes server, I can only imagine it would be slightly less convoluted.

Interesting

[teknopurge]

I find it fascinating that the article calls out IBM's presence in India as anything more then an accounting advantage, especially with all the issues of late with India's college system. I was very interested to learn that many bachelor degrees that come from Indian Universities are no where near as comprehensive or difficult to get then the majority of our public universities, not even mentioning our private or elite schools.

For all the concern about the Indian Technologists and how they were going to commoditize software development, somewhere along the way all the 'experts' forgot they wern't comparing apples-to-apples with regard to their qualifications and education.

Flame on. =) (I jest, but my comment is a very real issue.)

Re:IBM is in the computer business now?

[anomalous cohort]

IBM is a great hardware company. It has never been known for great software. Ask anybody who has had to use JCL. The inventors of IEFBR14 could never be known as a great software company.

I will admit that Eclipse [eclipse.org] is an excellent application but does anyone here remember Visual Age for Java? That app was seriously FUBAR and it would clobber ODBC on the machine when you uninstalled it which you invariably would since that is how bad Visual Age for Java was.

I'd like to know the story behind those two products. How could the same company produce two products with such disparate quality? Is the open source development model so superior that even a company like IBM can learn to make great software? Is it possible for a mega corp, like IBM, to be able to turn itself around and learn from its failures to start producing such great success? I haven't a clue.

Re:IBM is in the computer business now?

[JordanL]

I suppose that depends. IBM has never been known for great consumer software, business or personal.

As far I'm aware however, IBM is known for great development software, especially for inhouse dev cycles and hardware. Octopiler anyone?

Re:Fake Steve Jobs nailed this, as usual.

[lucabrasi999]

Your post would be really insightful if IBM wasn't making money hand-over-fist [marketwatch.com]. Unfortunately for you, the dollar signs in the 'profit' lines appear to back up the article. Apparently, IBM's track record also happens to include a few customers that are happy with their purchase.

Old news

[Anonymous Coward]

Last year, IBM reported over $18 billion in revenue [ibm.com] from Software alone. Which is more total revenue than Oracle [msn.com], SAP [msn.com], and every other software company not named Microsoft earned last year. I'd say IBM already is great software company (or at least a large one).

Re:More choices

[trongey]

...In want ads, companies always ask for "5 years of Foo, 10 years of Bar, 5 years of OOXML, etc. etc. etc. etc.". The more countries you have to comb for staff, the better chance that you will find somebody who matches your eclectic desired skills combinations...

News Flash!
When you see an add with those rediculous qualifications the company has already got a deal with their H1B candidate. They advertise with outrageous requirements so they can say that the necessary skill set isn't available domestically.

Re:Software company?

[edward350z]

No, you probably don't use any IBM software on your *PeeCee*. However, your company's accounting department probably uses an IBM mainframe running CICS. That airline ticket you booked on Orbitz went through IBM WebSphere to an IBM MQSeries server to IBM DB2, etc. If you drive a Honda/Acura automobile with voice-activated navigation, that's IBM ViaVoice. If you use Linux, a good chunk of the recent kernel patches were developed by folks on IBM's payroll. IBM is like Tyco or 3M -- they're involved in EVERYTHING you touch even if you don't see their branding front and center. Anyone who thinks IBM isn't a software company clearly does not have a big picture view of the IT world.