I have always believed a successful company must have a customer/marketplace orientation and a strong marketing organization. That’s why my second step in creating a global enterprise had to be to fix and focus IBM’s marketing efforts.

So we made a bet—one that, had we articulated it loudly at the time, would have left our colleagues in the industry rolling in the aisles.

Our bet was this: Over the next decade, customers would increasingly value companies that could provide solutions—solutions that integrated technology from various suppliers and, more important, integrated technology into the processes of an enterprise.

In the end we gained more than a software company. Culturally we proved that we could keep some organizational distance and allow a fast-moving team to thrive. Perhaps most important, the hostile acquisition sent a clear signal inside and outside IBM that we were out of survival-mode status and serious about reclaiming a position of influence in the industry.

Our wonderful technology was whipped by a product that was merely okay, but supported by a company that truly understood what the customer wanted. For a “solutions” company like IBM, it was a bitter but vital lesson.

SHAPING THE CONVERSATION

We needed a vocabulary to help the industry, our customers, and even IBM employees understand that what we saw transcended access to digital information and online commerce. It would reshape every important kind of relationship and interaction among businesses and people…

It was more important to build an awareness and an understanding around our point of view. Creating that environment would require massive investments, both financial and intellectual.