The IBM Story

Abstract

This chapter explores an actual transition from a product-based company to one where services dominate. That company is IBM and the transition started in the early 1990s. As you will see, the changes do not happen overnight in a “big bang” ­apocalyptic event but more gradually in a series of phases; indeed, at the time of writing (2009), we are almost 20 years into the transition and we know that we are not finished yet. Underneath the headline change from products to services, there are a myriad of other process and procedural changes that have to be made to support the business and allow it to change dynamically in order to meet the needs of its clients, its shareholders and its suppliers. In this chapter, we will show how IBM has responded to these requirements and how it is applying the lessons learnt in this process to create an agenda for innovation in service creation and delivery to address global problems.