Samson Leaves IBM Public Sector

The decision comes as a bit of a surprise, given that Samson only took on the role of general manager a little over a year ago; but history has proven that IBM likes to switch executives around after brief periods of time in corporate terms, arguably in an effort to best leverage their strengths. Samson spent five years during the 1990s in the public sector, first as vice president of IBM's North America state and local government business, followed by serving as general manager of IBM's North America federal, state and local government business. He then spent five years as vice president of worldwide sales for the Systems Group, though still with a hand in public sector, before returning as general manager in January 2005.

In his new role, Samson will essentially act as Bill Zeitler's chief of hardware sales. Zeitler is IBM's senior VP and group executive for the systems and technology group. The move, IBM insiders say, is a statement of Samson's salesmanship and leadership abilities, with the rationale being that he can replicate his success leading the largest segment of IBM business in the segment that does the most channel sales, but sees far lower revenues.

While Samson was not available for comment, he has frequently spoken about his adoration of the public sector market, which again makes this move an interesting one. "To me, the public sector is the most exciting area you can work for in the IT industry," he said recently. "The challenges they face and the innovative ways they solve problems are different than anything else out there. All of us look for that little sparkle that gets us up in the morning and gets us motivated; for me, it's the thrill of helping these customers change the world."