ibm

Savio has a point, much as I don't want to admit it. However, it might not be the point he's thinking that he's making. Or, rather, the data points to an entirely different point.

Wayne Waddoups of SAIC sent this slide deck along to me from a presentation delivered by Michael Cusumanoa (MIT) at Carnegie Mellon University, and I found it fascinating. The data clearly shows a (strong) decline in enterprise software sales over the last few years, with the only exceptions being "hits" and "platform leaders." In other words, those who get lucky and those who have built a massive lock-in ecosystem.

As shown, software is clearly on the decline, while services revenue is on a strong upswing. This, as Cusumanoa posits, may well lead the industry to invest in the next big area of innovation: Services innovation.… Read more

IBM on Wednesday reported strong revenue and income growth for second quarter 2007, in a sign that the company has improved profitability in its giant professional services division.

Excluding a one-time gain from the sale of its printing division, IBM reported diluted earnings of $1.50 per share, beating analysts' expectations by 3 cents.

A 10 percent increase in Global Services helped fuel second-quarter revenue of $23.8 billion. Income rose 8 percent to $2.2 billion, excluding an $81 million windfall from the sale of its printing division.

IBM Software--a crucial part of its revenue growth strategy as IBM … Read more

Paul Horn, the director of IBM Research for the past 11 years, is stepping aside to take an academic scientist position at New York University. He will be replaced by John Kelly, IBM's senior vice president of technology and intellectual property.

Horn's tenure at IBM Research is marked by technology accomplishments--including when IBM's Deep Blue computer beat former chess champion Garry Kasparov--and a sharper commercial orientation of IBM's vaunted labs.

During his time there, Horn, 60, sought to connect IBM researchers with customers and partners. As IBM began making a growing portion of its revenue from … Read more

IBM continues to make waves, this time announcing:

IBM is granting universal and perpetual access to intellectual property that might be necessary to implement standards designed to make software interoperable. IBM will not assert any patent rights to its technologies featured in these standards. The company believes its move in this space is the largest of its kind....

Among the technologies included on IBM's list, accessible here, are various standards pertaining to SOAP, SAML, XML Schema and Service Component Architecture. WS-* specifications are featured as well.

Bob Sutor writes on his blog:… Read more

Ask a simple question, get a simple, but subtle answer. I asked Savio Rodrigues, who replaced me on the Open Sources blog but originally blogged here, to comment on the state of open source at IBM. He gave me a bit more than that.

You know, IBM, the company that essentially carried open source into the enterprise on its back in 2000 when it pledged $1 billion to fund Linux. Lately, though, IBM's has been less flashy with its commitment to open source though, as Savio points out, no less involved. As Savio reports, however, IBM's commitment to open source is broader than source code. Open source without open standards isn't of much interest to Big Blue.

In this fifth installment of the Open Source @ Series on The Open Road, Savio gives us much to think about in terms of the power of open source...and what it means in the absence of standards.

Savio writes...

Matt Asay asked the question: What is the State of Open Source at IBM?

Our answer? Excellent!… Read more

Our next installment of the "In the Trenches" series introduces us to someone that I know very well, Martin Musierowicz of Alfresco. Martin works for me and has been exceptional. He came to Alfresco with ~eight years of open source experience and has put it to work for the company. Martin is proof that while I stink at most things, I hire very well.

Martin grudgingly agreed to talk for The Open Road once a month's salary was withheld. Martin fits this Series' profile perfectly: someone of which you may not have heard, but who has added significant revenue and expertise to the company. Martin is the best open source partner person I've met. JBoss taught him well to request value for value. Indeed, as he says below, open source companies can't afford to partner cheaply...

Name, company, title, and what you actually do

Martin Musierowicz, Senior Director of Channels...responsible for Strategic Alliances and OEMs (i.e., Glorified sales guy).… Read more

Perhaps it's not surprising that a company founded on the idea of automation hones in on efficiency when it comes to clean tech.

Over the past year, IBM has started working with a handful of energy efficiency and water conservation start-ups, betting that those technologies will find steady demand.

"So far, we've seen a trickle of the capital needed to make scalable changes. One thought is to see if we can dramatically increase efficiency and reduce waste to free up capital," said Andrew (Drew) Clark, director of strategy at IBM's Venture Capital Group.

Around 10 … Read more

Hmmm, which would you choose?

Sitting in a dreary classroom to bone up on an MBA, or stretched out in an easy chair honing your business leadership skills while engaged in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)?

A study released by IBM and collaboration software maker Seriosity found significant parallels between business leaders and MMORPG gamers.

MMORPG games, which include World of Warcraft, Eve Online and EverQuest, can include millions of players who come together in various groups to accomplish a specific mission or task.

Gamers learn collaboration, self-organization, risk taking, openness, influence and how to earn incentives when … Read more

Wow. This post from Glyn Moody just resurfaced memories that should never have been forgotten. Glyn reminds us that IBM made a patent pledge that protects OSI-approved open source projects:

IBM today pledged open access to key innovations covered by 500 IBM software patents to individuals and groups working on open source software. IBM believes this is the largest pledge ever of patents of any kind and represents a major shift in the way IBM manages and deploys its intellectual property (IP) portfolio....

The pledge is applicable to any individual, community, or company working on or using software that meets the Open Source Initiative (OSI) definition of open source software now or in the future.… Read more