ibm

IBM delivered strong third quarter earnings and raised it outlook amid strong software growth.

Big Blue reported third-quarter earnings of $3.8 billion, or $3.19 a share, on revenue of $26.2 billion, up 8 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were $3.28 a share.

Wall Street was looking for third-quarter earnings of $3.22 a share on revenue of $26.25 billion.

IBM also projected were 2011 non-GAAP earnings of $13.35 a share, up from its previous outlook of at least $13.25 a share. Wall Street was expecting $13.32 a share.

The quarter … Read more

IBM is testing a cloud-based EV charging application in Switzerland that will let drivers choose between fossil fuel or renewably generated electricity to recharge their electric vehicles. By letting drivers schedule recharging at peak renewable energy production times, the new service could help integrate electric vehicles into the market without straining power grids.

The proliferation of electric cars in the market will require only a few more percent electricity than is already produced, according to Swiss utility EKZ. However, if all EVs plugged into the grid recharged at the same time, it could cause widespread blackouts.

IBM is testing a … Read more

IBM today said it has acquired Platform Computing, a software company that focuses on grid management, for an undisclosed sum. For Big Blue, the acquisition bolsters its technical computing lineup.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter. Platform Computing, based in Toronto, manages shared computing environments typically used in high-performance and technical applications. For IBM, Platform Computing, which has MapReduce and Hadoop applications, also bolsters its private-cloud and big-data management efforts.

Platform Computing's applications are targeted at financial services, manufacturing, oil and gas, life sciences, and government. All of those verticals are key areas for IBM. … Read more

The majority of the world's top marketing executives recognize the shift in marketing norms but are not well-prepared to deal with it, a new study reveals.

Even among the most successful enterprises, half of all CMOs feel insufficiently prepared to provide hard numbers in regards to return on marketing investment, according to IBM's study, which surveyed more than 1,700 chief marketing officers from 64 countries and 19 industries.

Despite a wealth of tools available to track social media and public relations, the IBM study found that only 26 percent of CMOs are tracking blogs, 42 percent are … Read more

Google may have to prepare itself for a flood of even more resumes.

The search giant has been dubbed the most attractive employer by more than 160,000 people looking for the right place to work, according to a study released yesterday by employer branding company Universum.

Analyzing the choices from job seekers across the world's 12 largest economies, the study "The World's Most Attractive Employers 2011" (PDF) found Google tops among professionals with a business degree as well as those with an engineering background. This marks the third consecutive year that the search giant has … Read more

Lost amid the talk of Apple's soaring market capitalization is the fact that the venerable IBM is starting to compete for the second-place spot behind the iPhone maker.

By the time the market closed yesterday, IBM's market cap, a measure of the value of a company--derived from the total shares a company has outstanding, multiplied by its stock price--hit $214 billion. Microsoft's market cap ended the day at $213.2 billion.

IBM's victory over Microsoft marked the first time since 1996 that Big Blue's value exceeded that of the software giant, according to Bloomberg, citing … Read more

A group of semiconductor heavyweights led by Intel, IBM, and Globalfoundries will invest $4.4 billion in a New York-based chip R&D hub, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said today.

The five-year investment will target upstate New York, which is already a major center of chip research and development activity tied to IBM and Globalfoundries. The latter--Advanced Micro Devices' erstwhile chipmaking arm now owned by Abu Dhabi-based ATIC--is in the process of completing a massive manufacturing complex to make 28-nanometer chips in the town of Malta, NY. IBM has had manufacturing and R&D facilities … Read more

Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman in her debut yesterday talked about better execution, harnessing a talented workforce, hitting metrics, strategy, and innovation, but the one thing that matters most for the company--continuity--wasn't mentioned.

Continuity frames HP's challenges well. Simply put, HP has little to no continuity. Strategies, product lines, research and development spending, and CEOs--seven of them since 1999--all change regularly at HP. As a result, HP never quite seems like it has a long-term plan. The HP Way isn't in the DNA anymore and that prevents the company from being a long-term strategic partner to customers.

HP … Read more

Too busy to keep up with the tech news? Here are some of the more interesting stories from CNET for Wednesday, September 21.

• In his testimony, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt referred to Microsoft's mistakes (without actually naming the tech firm directly). Meanwhile, Google competitors such as Yelp tell senators during an antitrust subcommittee hearing that the company "rigs" search results. CBS news reports: "The early fireworks appeared when Sen. Michael S. Lee (R-Utah) produced data showing that Google's owned and operated properties often were among the top links." Google says trust us. More … Read more