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Does IBM have any good products that are worth paying for any more? It seems like a dead company still walking somehow.

by rb808 8y ago

lnanek2 8y ago
They are basically a services company now. That's why they sold off printer division, storage division, laptop division, etc.. They just weren't making as much money as consulting.
Shivetya 8y ago
the still make money hand over fist with the midrange and mainframe offerings. I know it is vogue to dismiss both here but the simple matter is many businesses rely on such hardware and they are companies many don't suspect. I know the refrain, they need to switch to X, Y, or Z. Well the issue always comes down to, they don't know everything their current A, B, and C, platforms do. Then you look at all the touch points and realize that to swap X for A you suddenly need to get D through G to re engineer their solution too
- rb808 8y ago
  Yes you're right, but it feels like its just a matter of time. Lots of companies rely on old IBM platforms now, but every year there are fewer. It isn't sustainable. Whether consulting will be the thing that gets them through the next few decades is the real question.
Someguywhatever 8y ago
No, they don't. The only reason they make money is that they have connections and in's at large organizations and access to lucrative government contracts. Many governments only deal with IBM scale organizations because for some reason they think that they can sue IBM if something goes wrong! (lololol) That idea is so ridiculous, IBM has some of the best lawyers around (and a literal army of them), there's NO WAY to sue IBM, it's not possible, and even doing so would be so costly and time consuming it would be a Pyrrhic victory at best.
- mr_toad 8y ago
  It’s not just the ability to sue. It’s partly just the labyrinthine government procurement process that favours larger suppliers who can deal with all the red tape. There is also an element of cargo-culting in government procurement, where they think that if all the proper rituals are being observed they must lead to the right result. It probably works well when procuring janitorial services, but with IT it just helps cement lock-in.
  - Someguywhatever 8y ago
    Yes this is very true, and most people procuring IT services in Gov't probably don't understand what they're asking for. They think a static web page costs a lot of money or is difficult to implement because they're technologically illiterate. Meanwhile IBM implements that static web page for them for a million taxpayer dollars.....

Does IBM have any good products that are worth paying for any more? It seems like a dead company still walking somehow.

by rb808 8y ago

Does IBM have any good products that are worth paying for any more? It seems like a dead company still walking somehow.

They are basically a services company now. That's why they sold off printer division, storage division, laptop division, etc.. They just weren't making as much money as consulting.

Shivetya 8y ago

the still make money hand over fist with the midrange and mainframe offerings. I know it is vogue to dismiss both here but the simple matter is many businesses rely on such hardware and they are companies many don't suspect. I know the refrain, they need to switch to X, Y, or Z. Well the issue always comes down to, they don't know everything their current A, B, and C, platforms do. Then you look at all the touch points and realize that to swap X for A you suddenly need to get D through G to re engineer their solution too

rb808 8y ago
Yes you're right, but it feels like its just a matter of time. Lots of companies rely on old IBM platforms now, but every year there are fewer. It isn't sustainable. Whether consulting will be the thing that gets them through the next few decades is the real question.

Someguywhatever 8y ago

No, they don't. The only reason they make money is that they have connections and in's at large organizations and access to lucrative government contracts. Many governments only deal with IBM scale organizations because for some reason they think that they can sue IBM if something goes wrong! (lololol) That idea is so ridiculous, IBM has some of the best lawyers around (and a literal army of them), there's NO WAY to sue IBM, it's not possible, and even doing so would be so costly and time consuming it would be a Pyrrhic victory at best.

mr_toad 8y ago
It’s not just the ability to sue. It’s partly just the labyrinthine government procurement process that favours larger suppliers who can deal with all the red tape. There is also an element of cargo-culting in government procurement, where they think that if all the proper rituals are being observed they must lead to the right result. It probably works well when procuring janitorial services, but with IT it just helps cement lock-in.
- Someguywhatever 8y ago
  Yes this is very true, and most people procuring IT services in Gov't probably don't understand what they're asking for. They think a static web page costs a lot of money or is difficult to implement because they're technologically illiterate. Meanwhile IBM implements that static web page for them for a million taxpayer dollars.....