Allan B. Krans, Senior Analyst, TBR
2010-07-21
Shortly after its Q2 2010 earnings announcement, IBM announced organizational changes that bring its structure into alignment with the changing way customers are consuming IT. The rigid lines between hardware, software and services are increasingly blurring, with customers focusing more on solving their business problems versus the details of how that solution is delivered.
In TBR’s Appliance Customer Adoption Study, more than 50% of business customers had purchased an integrated IT appliance in the last 12 months, citing considerable value in the deployment, management and integration as driving the purchase decision.
For the software business, the important and symbolic move occurred when Steve Mills was named to oversee IBM’s hardware business in addition the software group he’s managed for the past decade. Although IBM has been tightly integrating its software and hardware product together for quite some time, the formal realignment signals the integration is a long-term strategy, not a short term initiative.
Not your grandfather’s IBM
For a company whose legacy is built on hardware, as clearly articulated by its name, International Business Machines, bringing its hardware business under the purview of a software executive is a significant step. IBM will mark the 100th anniversary of its incorporation in 2011, a feat that would not have been possible without significant changes to its business over since its inception. Hardware has certainly evolved into a lower-value portion of the overall IT market, as seen by IBM’s shedding of the most commoditized portions of its hardware business and execution of 60+ acquisitions over the past seven years.
TBR believes the combination of hardware with software is an extension of this strategy, but is also a recognition that hardware will continue playing an essential role in IT delivery. Whether delivered via a cloud, appliance, or traditional IT, hardware will remain the underpinning of IT services.
Delivery, not just software functionality creates value
One of the critical components for IBM to continue driving organic software revenue growth is an increased focus on the delivery mechanisms for its software, not just the actual product functionality. In the current market environment, customers are less interested in hardware, software, or services than they are in delivering value. Budget constraints have forced customers to care much less about how that value is delivered as long as it is in fact delivered. While the trend toward cloud computing and mobility has existed for years, the economic downturn provided the added incentive many customers needed to evaluate new forms of IT delivery.
In the post-recession era, solutions are being judged not only on their functionality, but also on the flexibility of how they are delivered and consumed. IBM’s renewed focus on software delivery is manifesting through investments both in how software functionality is delivered (cloud and appliances) and in who is delivering the software offerings (channel partners).
IBM can meet any flavor of delivery option
With a broad portfolio of offerings that spans professional services, hardware, and software, IBM is well-positioned to deliver software functionality any way its customers so choose, and the company is aligning its portfolio to do just that. IBM’s breadth is a strong competitive advantage in this respect, and the company is grouping its software offerings into four delivery categories - public cloud, private cloud, purpose-built device delivered and traditional on-site software delivery.
As opposed to pure-play cloud vendors such as Google or Salesforce.com, TBR believes IBM’s multifaceted delivery approach will most closely match actual customer adoption patterns. Few customers will fall cleanly into a single delivery method, and the vast majority will employ multiple software delivery methods depending on their specific requirements and existing IT assets.
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ReplyDeleteInformation Technology Job interview: Information Technology interview tips
ReplyDeleteInformation Technology is all about technology and innovation. This is one of the most important aspects to keep in mind while attending an IT Interview.
The IT, Information Technology job interview questions reflect these aspects:
1. Your general knowledge: As a person who is working in the IT industry, you should have an immense general knowledge, which should cover all the relevant information related to the IT industry as well as the general public.
2. Your general knowledge should be updated instantly: You should be in touch with all the technological changes that have taken place since the past ten years, as well as the one that has taken place today.
This is the only way that the interviewer will get a true picture of your knowledge and dedication towards IT, and more importantly towards getting a job in a stable company.
Sample IT Interview Questions
Some of the most common Information Technology, IT interview questions that will be asked are:
IT NETWORK & Telephony
• Have you planed and implemented additions and major modifications to your company’s IT infrastructure. Describe your contribution to these processes.
• Tell us the procedures you took for implementing network security.
• Describe the maintenance and administration practices that you utilized to ensure the corporate VOIP/WAN/IT network effective performance.
• Have you upgraded the company’s telephony or email system to VOIP or unified messaging system. Describe the process and the factors for choosing the new systems.
General Maintenance & Help Desk Administration
• Describe a situation in which you had to perform one of the following – troubleshooting procedure, system backup and failure recovery.
• What IT tracking software you used to monitor/maintain remote systems.
• Have you interacted with customers or internal clients on a daily basis? What level of help desk support you provided to resolve IT-related issues?
IT manager, IT Project manager interview questions
• Describe your methods to build and maintain subcontractor and vendors relationships and manage the purchase of hardware and software products.
• Have you develop a disaster recovery plan to ensure maximum availability of computer systems throughout the Corporate.
• Have you developed the IT security policy?
• Describe the hands-on support and training program you used to ensure cross company utilization of computing infrastructure.
• Have you been responsible for the budget of the IT systems of the company? Tell us how you monitored costs, business plan and cash flow.
Refer also to project manager interview and team leader interview for more related job interview questions for IT manager.
General common information technology interview questions:
1. How do you keep yourself updated with technology, considering that technology today is enhanced almost every day?
2. What kind of attitudes do you find it difficult to work with? How do you handle people with the particular attitude?
3. How did you prepare for this job interview?
4. In your previous job, did you handle a team? If yes, could you tell us of an example when you coordinated your team with the client in a successful manner?
5. We expect our managers to work more than eight hours a day, how flexible are you with your work hours?
6. What is the timeframe since when you have been looking for a job
, or how long have you been looking for a job now?
7. Can you share with us the most satisfying moments in your professional life?
8. What are your financial expectations from the job?
These are some of the common questions that are asked to a person applying for an IT position. Of course, the questions may change depending on the post that you have applied for.
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