IBM has a new CEO: Virginia Rometty | Hacker News Reader

IBM has a new CEO: Virginia Rometty

allthingsd.com

59 pointskenjackson20 comments

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.

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.

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

I'm sure lots of people at HP are thinking deeply. I am unconvinced that any of them hold positions on the board.

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 :)

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

the "front line" can change a lot year to year...especially if the company grows...so the front line experience may not be all that relevant .

True, though I'd still rather work for someone who's been in the trenches than a "career-long manager" who has never seen the front-lines, in any form.

And this isn't a straw man either - I've met way too many people who hopped straight into management and never did their time in the trenches. Invariably they are disconnected from reality.

It's nice to see a C-level of a multinational who's an engineer; she has a CS degree.

I have been profoundly unhappy with IBM software products, maybe a new CEO will kick some butt and get some innovation rolling!

IBM are probably no longer making products. Many of their products have been stagnant laying around just as cash cow via long term support. This is straight coming from the inside. But what do I know...

former IBM SE here... SE's at IBM are, technically, technical sales people. they are the ones that accompany the salesman to keep him honest and answer the tough questions.

A bit more interesting bio at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/technology/ibm-names-a-new...

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

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

"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."

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.

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.

Sidebar on the page I read:

  90’s Internet: Nobody knows you’re a dog.

  2011 Facebook Timeline: Everyone knows you’re a dog.

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

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...

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