IBM Tech Services Business Names CIO Ahead of Planned Spinoff -- Update
19 Mai 2021 - 2:23AM
Dow Jones News
By John McCormick
Kyndryl, the tech services business International Business
Machines Corp. plans to spin off by the end of this year, named
information-technology veteran Michael Bradshaw as its chief
information officer on Tuesday.
Mr. Bradshaw, the CIO at NBCUniversal Media LLC, will join
Kyndryl next week and report to Martin Schroeter, the new
business's chief executive officer.
In his new position, Mr. Bradshaw is expected to set Kyndryl's
information technology strategy and put together an IT team.
At NBCUniversal, Mr. Bradshaw leads a team of about 1,500 IT
professionals.
IBM announced in October that it would spin off its managed
infrastructure services business as it focuses on faster-growing
areas such as cloud-computing and artificial intelligence. The unit
manages clients' IT infrastructure and, IBM said last fall, it
generates about $19 billion in sales and has about 90,000
employees.
The name of the company comes from the words kinship and
tendrils, which support growing plants. "It's about supporting
growth through people," an IBM spokesman said.
"It's an amazing opportunity when you think about it being a
90,000-person startup," Mr. Bradshaw said. "There's a combination
of starting up a new business but already having an established
customer base of thousands of customers around the world."
Mr. Bradshaw said NBCUniversal is an IBM customer but didn't
provide specifics.
Mr. Bradshaw joined the media company in 2016 from Lockheed
Martin Corp., where he was vice president and CIO for Mission
Systems and Training at the defense company.
Mr. Bradshaw sees his biggest challenge as helping to manage the
spinoff. "It's making sure that we're doing it efficiently and
effectively. That we're not disrupting the mission-critical systems
that we're supporting for our many customers. So that's job one,"
he said.
Tim Crawford, CIO strategic adviser at Los Angeles-based
advisory firm AVOA, agreed that the first job of an IT executive
coming into this type of role is "getting the house in order." But
he also said it is important for CIOs at technology companies to be
engaged with customers. "He's going to have to get out and get very
public," Mr. Crawford said.
Mr. Bradshaw will be counted on to confer with customers as
appropriate, the IBM spokesman said.
"Michael brings capabilities to think like Kyndryl's customers
and can be an asset for Kyndryl's services leaders and its base of
clients," said Chirag Dekate, vice president analyst at technology
research and advisory firm Gartner Inc.
But Mr. Bradshaw also brings to the position the perspective of
a former IBM employee.
Before joining Lockheed Martin in 2010, Mr. Bradshaw had worked
at IBM. His last position was in the office of the CIO where he
focused on infrastructure optimization across IBM.
"I would say it's a little bit of a homecoming," he said. "And I
think that's probably why I have so much passion for what Martin
and the team are about to do."
IBM made another CIO announcement earlier this year. In March,
the company appointed Kathryn Guarini, a 20-plus-year IBM veteran,
to replace Fletcher Previn as its CIO.
Write to John McCormick at john.mccormick@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2021 20:08 ET (00:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
International Business M... (NYSE:IBM)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Mar 2024 à Avr 2024
International Business M... (NYSE:IBM)
Graphique Historique de l'Action
De Avr 2023 à Avr 2024