

IBM has a new CEO: Virginia Rometty - kenjackson
http://allthingsd.com/20111025/ibm-has-a-new-ceo-meet-virginia-rometty/

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itcmcgrath
Started out as a Systems Engineer at IBM in 1981. That's an impressive rise
within the same company from the technical side.

Mr Palmisano started at IBM as a Salesman in 1973.

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redthrowaway
That is indeed impressive, especially seeing as she transitioned from
Engineering to Sales.

I can't say I know anything about her, but it's good to see people climbing
the corporate ladder the old fashioned way, and C-level execs who know what
life is like on the front lines.

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hkmurakami
I truly hope that someone, somewhere inside Hewlett-Packard is seeing this and
thinking deeply to him or herself.

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mgse
If you mean the idealistic notion that an engineer can come in and eventually
run the company, sure, if they get on the management path quickly.

Spent just under a decade with IBM working on servers and even the best people
I saw (technically and politically) were taking 8+ years as engineers to make
it to a senior level (band 9 for any IBMers). And at that point, you're likely
just a glorified project manager. If you put together a couple decades of
awesomeness, maybe you make Distinguished Engineer or even IBM Fellow. They
don't end up as VPs or CEOs.

As a disclaimer, I now work at HP. With respect to the culture in the
trenches, I see IBM and HP as almost identical. Some great people to work
with, interesting projects, and way too much bureaucracy :)

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hkmurakami
With respect to personnel, would you venture to say that perhaps nothing other
than the Board is different between these two companies?

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raheemm
A bit more interesting bio at
[http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/technology/ibm-names-a-
new...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/technology/ibm-names-a-new-
chief.html)

~~~
mathattack
Thanks for sharing. There is always one more interesting than the press
release floating around. :-)

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anactofgod
Cool. IBM finally has a CEO educated as an engineer running the company.

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dmor
"Rometty’s naming as CEO makes it an interesting moment in history. With Meg
Whitman at the helm of HP, women now run the two biggest IT companies by
revenue in the world."

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hkmurakami
These two CEOs practically have nothing in common other than their gender.
Rometty is an engineer turned saleswoman who has been with IBM for 30 years.
Whitman has a career in retail and is a former consultant. She swooped down on
the CEO seat after a failed bid in the 2010 California gubernatorial race. Her
"career" with HP is less than 1 year.

Perhaps it will be a case study in which type of CEO can lead a major tech
company better. My money's on Rometty, and so is my heart, hoping that the
tech industry will be more favorable to home-grown talent for the top spot.

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mathattack
Great to see a technologist at the helm of IBM. Granted she made her marks in
services, then marketing and sales, but the past 3 CEOs have been a salesman,
a strategist, and an office politician. I hope she does well, as IBM may need
a move as big as hardware to software or software to services.

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ableal
Sidebar on the page I read:

    
    
      90’s Internet: Nobody knows you’re a dog.
    
      2011 Facebook Timeline: Everyone knows you’re a dog.

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TruthElixirX
Hopefully more women reduces the amount of misogyny that have to see people
pull all the time on the internet.

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dfc
I'm not sure what your point was due to your grammar. With that being said its
less clear why you were down voted. Please rephrase your comment...

