Outside of some niche areas right now I think what you are hearing is people trying to pitch others to pay for their time to experiment and build something with

Outside of some niche areas right now I think what you are hearing is people trying to pitch others to pay for their time to experiment and build something with Watson. Not that they already have a solution, again except for some niche industries and groups. Overall, IBM is having to reinvent itself (again), and IBM people themselves are pushing in new directions and pitching new ideas which fit their longer term plan. At the same time they have this huge legacy dragging behind them, so it can't be easy. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of some of the total crap (consulting mainly) they put out there, but then they do some crazy amazing stuff with their research groups. And I have seen a few really stellar software consulting gigs they have done too, but that seems to be the minority. But at least I'll say for them, they aren't Oracle, and they will complete a project.