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IBM has a new CEO: Virginia Rometty

59 points by kenjackson 15y ago

TruthElixirX 15y ago
Hopefully more women reduces the amount of misogyny that have to see people pull all the time on the internet.
- dfc 15y ago
  I'm not sure what your point was due to your grammar. With that being said its less clear why you were down voted. Please rephrase your comment...
ableal 15y ago
Sidebar on the page I read: 90’s Internet: Nobody knows you’re a dog. 2011 Facebook Timeline: Everyone knows you’re a dog.
dmor 15y ago
"Rometty’s naming as CEO makes it an interesting moment in history. With Meg Whitman at the helm of HP, women now run the two biggest IT companies by revenue in the world."
- hkmurakami 15y ago
  These two CEOs practically have nothing in common other than their gender. Rometty is an engineer turned saleswoman who has been with IBM for 30 years. Whitman has a career in retail and is a former consultant. She swooped down on the CEO seat after a failed bid in the 2010 California gubernatorial race. Her "career" with HP is less than 1 year. Perhaps it will be a case study in which type of CEO can lead a major tech company better. My money's on Rometty, and so is my heart, hoping that the tech industry will be more favorable to home-grown talent for the top spot.
itcmcgrath 15y ago
Started out as a Systems Engineer at IBM in 1981. That's an impressive rise within the same company from the technical side. Mr Palmisano started at IBM as a Salesman in 1973.
- redthrowaway 15y ago
  That is indeed impressive, especially seeing as she transitioned from Engineering to Sales. I can't say I know anything about her, but it's good to see people climbing the corporate ladder the old fashioned way, and C-level execs who know what life is like on the front lines.
  - hkmurakami 15y ago
    I truly hope that someone, somewhere inside Hewlett-Packard is seeing this and thinking deeply to him or herself.
    - redthrowaway 15y ago
      I'm sure lots of people at HP are thinking deeply. I am unconvinced that any of them hold positions on the board.
    - mgse 15y ago
      If you mean the idealistic notion that an engineer can come in and eventually run the company, sure, if they get on the management path quickly. Spent just under a decade with IBM working on servers and even the best people I saw (technically and politically) were taking 8+ years as engineers to make it to a senior level (band 9 for any IBMers). And at that point, you're likely just a glorified project manager. If you put together a couple decades of awesomeness, maybe you make Distinguished Engineer or even IBM Fellow. They don't end up as VPs or CEOs. As a disclaimer, I now work at HP. With respect to the culture in the trenches, I see IBM and HP as almost identical. Some great people to work with, interesting projects, and way too much bureaucracy :)
      - 15y ago
raheemm 15y ago
A bit more interesting bio at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/technology/ibm-names-a-new-chief.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/technology/ibm-names-a-new...
- mathattack 15y ago
  Thanks for sharing. There is always one more interesting than the press release floating around. :-)
mathattack 15y ago
Great to see a technologist at the helm of IBM. Granted she made her marks in services, then marketing and sales, but the past 3 CEOs have been a salesman, a strategist, and an office politician. I hope she does well, as IBM may need a move as big as hardware to software or software to services.
anactofgod 15y ago
Cool. IBM finally has a CEO educated as an engineer running the company.

59 points by kenjackson 15y ago

TruthElixirX 15y ago

Hopefully more women reduces the amount of misogyny that have to see people pull all the time on the internet.

dfc 15y ago
I'm not sure what your point was due to your grammar. With that being said its less clear why you were down voted. Please rephrase your comment...

ableal 15y ago

Sidebar on the page I read: 90’s Internet: Nobody knows you’re a dog. 2011 Facebook Timeline: Everyone knows you’re a dog.

dmor 15y ago

"Rometty’s naming as CEO makes it an interesting moment in history. With Meg Whitman at the helm of HP, women now run the two biggest IT companies by revenue in the world."

hkmurakami 15y ago
These two CEOs practically have nothing in common other than their gender. Rometty is an engineer turned saleswoman who has been with IBM for 30 years. Whitman has a career in retail and is a former consultant. She swooped down on the CEO seat after a failed bid in the 2010 California gubernatorial race. Her "career" with HP is less than 1 year. Perhaps it will be a case study in which type of CEO can lead a major tech company better. My money's on Rometty, and so is my heart, hoping that the tech industry will be more favorable to home-grown talent for the top spot.

itcmcgrath 15y ago

Started out as a Systems Engineer at IBM in 1981. That's an impressive rise within the same company from the technical side. Mr Palmisano started at IBM as a Salesman in 1973.

redthrowaway 15y ago
That is indeed impressive, especially seeing as she transitioned from Engineering to Sales. I can't say I know anything about her, but it's good to see people climbing the corporate ladder the old fashioned way, and C-level execs who know what life is like on the front lines.
- hkmurakami 15y ago
  I truly hope that someone, somewhere inside Hewlett-Packard is seeing this and thinking deeply to him or herself.
  - redthrowaway 15y ago
    I'm sure lots of people at HP are thinking deeply. I am unconvinced that any of them hold positions on the board.
  - mgse 15y ago
    If you mean the idealistic notion that an engineer can come in and eventually run the company, sure, if they get on the management path quickly. Spent just under a decade with IBM working on servers and even the best people I saw (technically and politically) were taking 8+ years as engineers to make it to a senior level (band 9 for any IBMers). And at that point, you're likely just a glorified project manager. If you put together a couple decades of awesomeness, maybe you make Distinguished Engineer or even IBM Fellow. They don't end up as VPs or CEOs. As a disclaimer, I now work at HP. With respect to the culture in the trenches, I see IBM and HP as almost identical. Some great people to work with, interesting projects, and way too much bureaucracy :)
    - 15y ago

raheemm 15y ago

A bit more interesting bio at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/technology/ibm-names-a-new-chief.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/technology/ibm-names-a-new...

mathattack 15y ago
Thanks for sharing. There is always one more interesting than the press release floating around. :-)

mathattack 15y ago

Great to see a technologist at the helm of IBM. Granted she made her marks in services, then marketing and sales, but the past 3 CEOs have been a salesman, a strategist, and an office politician. I hope she does well, as IBM may need a move as big as hardware to software or software to services.

anactofgod 15y ago

Cool. IBM finally has a CEO educated as an engineer running the company.