Musical Chairs continues at IBM Software Group
by Volker Weber
[Musical Chairs is "Reise nach Jerusalem"]
It was announced Thursday on the IBM intranet but I did not think it was important enough to break the news until IBM is ready to talk about it. More executives move around within the Software Group. This also affects Lotus in a big way. The notable part is that one of the executives brings a part of the business into Lotus. It will be interesting to see how IBM resolves the branding issues around this move.
I also wonder how long IBM will go with the four pillar model (DB2, Lotus, Tivoli, Websphere) now that they have to bring Rational in. I think that should be announced around the developerWorks Live conference in April. In the not so distant future Lotus may no longer be a pillar but a beam supported by other pillars.
Comments
I don't agree with "may no longer be a pillar but a beam". In fact, most that i've talked to say that the move of more business into Lotus gives futher weight to Lotus' mission as part of the overall group. I can't quite think of another analogy, but that "essential human element" stuff that was the theme at Lotusphere is really what all this is about. It's good news for the conspiracy theorists.
However, as I've said elsewhere, I believe the brand structure in its current form can't last. It already doesn't internally as far as engineering and some other parts of the org.
Of course, I must be way too deep in Lotusphere mode (still) anyway...I had a dream overnight that I was walking down the street with Ronan Tynan (closing session guest). Yikes
When I said "beam" I meant something that sits on top of other things and goes across. More of a horizontal than a vertical thing.
