News in review: IBM in 2002

• By Lana Gates
• January 29, 2003

Last year IBM changed leadership, made a number of acquisitions and continued on its quest to provide ''e-business on demand.''

Let's look back. In January 2002, Big Blue announced a change of leadership. Samuel Palmisano replaced Louis Gerstner as CEO of the company. At the time, ADT wrote ''It's official: Palmisano will take IBM helm'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6023], announcing the details of the plan. Also in January, IBM acquired CrossWorlds Software along with that company's products for automating business processes that integrate multiple applications.

The spring saw IBM unveiling Web services security tools for its WebSphere and Tivoli product families. ADT reported in ''IBM unveils Web services security tools'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6736] that this was an effort to overcome a lack of corporate-level security capabilities.

In May, IBM unveiled a new version of its DB2 OLAP Server system that incorporates both data mining and data analysis technologies. At the time, ADT wrote ''IBM boosts OLAP analysis, mining'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6325].

A month later, Big Blue acquired another company, Metamerge, adding directory integration software to its infrastructure portfolio. ADT reported on this in ''IBM acquires Metamerge'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6501].

IBM continued its company purchasing by announcing plans in July to buy PricewaterhouseCoopers' global business consulting and technology services unit, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Consulting in a move to strengthen the company's consulting business. ADT reported on this in ''IBM buys PricewaterhouseCoopers unit for $3.5 billion'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6557]. The acquisition was completed in October 2002.

In August, IBM and Microsoft demonstrated Web services-based interoperability between IBM's WebSphere and Microsoft's .NET at the XML Web Services One conference in Boston. At the time, ADT wrote ''IBM, Microsoft demo links Web services apps'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6646].

That same month, IBM acquired yet another company, TrelliSoft, a provider of storage resource management software.

September was another busy month of acquisitions for IBM. The company acquired Access360, a provider of identity management software, and Holosofx, a provider of business integration software.

The company also saw the Eclipse consortium expand on its earlier efforts with the creation of the open-source Eclipse Technology Project. ADT outlined the details in ''Eclipse to fund university research'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6636].

In the fall, new CEO Palmisano put his first real stamp on IBM's ''e-business on demand'' enterprise computing strategy, which relies on the enterprise appeal of the utility computing model. ADT reported on this in ''IBM chief sets 'e-business on demand' strategy'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=6924].

Palmisano was also elected chairman of the board in October 2002.

IBM completed two more acquisitions in October and November. The company bought EADS Matra Datavision to enhance its Product Lifecycle Management offerings and Tarian Software to extend its leadership in data management.

Big Blue ended the year on a high note by announcing plans in December to acquire Rational Software. At the time, ADT wrote ''IBM to buy Rational for more than $2B'' [see http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=7038].

For an earlier ADT Special Report on IBM strategy, go to
Is openness enough for IBM? - November 2001, ADT