The Take-Away From My Interview With IBM Chairman, CEO Sam Palmisano

Having been fortunate enough to interview Palmisano a number of times before he became chairman and CEO, and most recently just a few weeks ago, there is little question he could easily become the most listened-to voice in the market,if he so chooses. The endearing, down-to-earth but hard-driving Palmisano is not inclined to step into the public spotlight more than on a rare occasion. It's not his nature to chase the glamour so many of his competitors seem to relish.

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ROBERT FALETRA

Can be reached at (516) 562-7812 or via e-mail at [email protected].

It's also the reason my recent interview with him was in many ways more compelling than those granted by other CEOs, who often wait little more than a week before showing up on the cover of another publication. In fact, the 90 minutes I spent with Palmisano is one of only three press interviews on his schedule this year. Given that neither of the other two publications he will meet face-to-face are from the business-to-business press, it says something about the importance he places on CRN's audience, the channel. It also makes a very loud statement that IBM believes solution providers are critical to Big Blue's strategy in the open-standards, on-demand world it is evangelizing. Remember, Sam ran channels for IBM at one point in his career, and his ability to get granular on partner issues is incredible given his current responsibilities.

So what should you take away from the coverage stemming from the interview in both CRN and sister publication VARBusiness?

First, Palmisano's sales roots haven't changed a bit. IBM has always been a sales-driven organization, and he continues to drive that culture. Ultimately that impacts what IBM wants from its channel. The message for partners is that IBM will invest in and give more to solution providers that drive sales for IBM. That's not rocket science, but it does signal that Palmisano, as he said very clearly during the interview, is looking for solution providers that buy into the open-platform standard that IBM is pushing. Can you say, 'Get serious about your Linux skills'?

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'IBM's Palmisano (center) and Borman (right) have the ability to get granular about the overall sales that individual business partners are generating by region or industry.'

To that point, my interview took place in Sam's private conference room attached to his office. The only picture in the room was one of Palmisano and Linux inventor Linus Torvalds.

The on-demand strategy that Palmisano put forth in a speech more than 18 months ago has clearly taken hold inside IBM, and he is pushing the company to operate more in that world. Evidence is an internal system called CEO Edge that enables Palmisano to roll up the company's sales on a daily basis by sector, by industry, by industry within geography, by product within geography, by channel, by commitment against manufacturing, and in a host of other ways. IBM's Michael Borman, one of the best channel executives I've ever come across, can access data on sales-by-partner via CEO Edge.

If you buy into a world that one day operates in an on-demand fashion, as Palmisano predicts, it will require you to understand just as much about business processes and how to enable them via technology as you do about the technology itself.

Palmisano is clear that he wants, needs and will invest in profitable partners committed to IBM's strategy of open systems and on-demand business. IBM also has the tools to measure the individual success of those partners, so you have to decide whether you want to engage more closely with it.

I would recommend you visit www.crn.com to read the entire transcript of my interview with Palmisano.

Make something happen. I can be reached at (516) 562-7812 or via e-mail at [email protected].