Oh this is rich.
http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/05/11/layoffs_ibm_cringe/
The Register appears to be daring to accuse Robert Cringley of lacking journalistic integrity. Apparently, Cringley reported that IBM was going to outsource 150,000 workers. IBM has only 130,000 workers in the US.
Now I’m no fan of Cringley. I think he’s an opportunistic anything-for-a-buck type who fancies himself a journalist but in reality is just the IT equivalent of a Hollywood rumor monger. Dare I say, "literary paparazzi"?
But for the Register, a site that seems to post pretty much anything they sniff or smell in the air, to accuse him of poor journalistic standards? Pot? Meet kettle.
This article did have one rather interesting element to it: It has a slide from MIT Professor Michael Cusamano, whom I assume is the same person that authored the books , "Microsoft Secrets" and "Competing on Internet Time", that shows the percentage of revenue attained by hard services. Consulting, support, that sort of thing… as opposed to software, hardware, etc.
Hard Services as a percentage of Total Sales of a Hardware Vendor
IBM: KING OF SELLING YOU SERVICES
Wow. At 52% of their sales and growing, IBM’s goal is clearly to sell customers services like IBM Consulting for Linux & Websphere instead of actual product like iSeries or Domino.
Here’s an observation: Does IBM have any incentive at all to evangelize, recommend, or educate people on products that customers might otherwise learn, architect, develop, and support on their own. Do they have any reason to pitch products & technologies that require expertise readily available on the open market, instead of requiring IBM Consulting?
Optimally, every product they pitch should be as complex & specialized as possible requiring expertise that only their services organizations have.
Because heck – if customers had "PEOPLE READY" to implement IT projects on their own… if businesses invested in their own employees as their "MOST IMPORTANT ASSET"… or maybe hire in some cheaper labor from another consulting group to transfer knowledge to them and walk away…
…where would IBM get their money from?
kurtsh
Kurt's Thoughts 