When I start a business as a hardware manufacturer, and then the industry margins become lower than the expectations of my shareholders, then I need to exit the

When I start a business as a hardware manufacturer, and then the industry margins become lower than the expectations of my shareholders, then I need to exit the business. Selling off Lenovo provided a huge cash injection that funded a major deficit in their pension plan funding and a few years later tablets killed any hope of making decent margin, so the time was at least lucky. I wasn't a big fan of Sam and he certainly was at the helm when they missed the cloud. Ginny wasn't handed the best cards, but I like how she is playing them. For the future, IBM as a leading integrator of Apple technology into enterprises is clever, and the acquisition of Softlayer and building of mobility services is well aligned to the market. I agree with another poster about IBM being a finance company at its core. Ultimately, the value I see in IBM is one MSA (Master Services Agreement) as the contractual framework for a multitude of cloud services. Have you ever seen lawyers on a cloud agreement? It can take a year to negotiate. A schedule in an MSA is signed quickly. It's a great business with recurring margin from a recognized name and financially stable company. Just some thoughts.