Years ago, the technology industry was defined by IBM and the “BUNCH” (Burroughs, Univac, NCR, CDC and Honeywell). One by one, the BUNCH slowly evaporated and has either merged with other entities or taken a backseat to others, such as Digital, Wang, Data General, and others, all of which have also gone towards sunset. In the software industry, the big shots used to be Cincom, Cullinane, MSA, and Computer Associates, but now it’s hard to find someone in the business who even remembers their names.
Today, Wall Street defines the technology industry with names like Google, Apple, Cisco, Dell, Microsoft, Priceline, Facebook, Intuit, Yahoo! And others. Surprisingly, the IBM name rarely comes up in this regard, which leads me to believe that they are starting to fade from view as BUNCH did years before.
There was a time when you mentioned the name “IBM” that conjured up images of mainframes, mid-range computers, PCs, networks, operating systems, DBMS, and office equipment. Today, I’m not quite sure what it represents exactly. I think they still sell “big irons” but have given up just about everything else to others. They talk about things like middleware, storage devices, and file servers, which is a far cry from the comprehensive product line that once dominated the industry.
For years, it was well understood in the business world that you could never be fired for recommending the purchase of IBM products. It was the safe bet. Now they are lucky enough to be considered in the race. From a hardware standpoint, I still believe that they know how to design products. I still have a few of their PCs that, when you look under cover, are solidly built and far better than anyone else’s. But IBM is now in the awkward position of having to prove that it is a viable solutions provider.
IBM used to be well known for its strong marketing tactics, some say heavy-handed, but this began to change in the 1990s when IBM consented the desktop to Microsoft. Instead of dominating the industry, they now seem content to lean back on the ropes absorbing one hit after another. What bothers me is that they give the appearance of a company that is no longer in charge of its own destiny and depends on others for its direction. For me, this is the sign of a company on the verge of becoming irrelevant.
