Yesterday, the IBM board of directors elected Virginia Rometty as president and CEO of the company, a position which will come into effect from January 1, 2012. Rometty will be replacing Sam Palmisano, IBM's second-longest serving CEO next to founder Thomas Williams.
This announcement is seen as big news in the business world, as few women have ever been placed in charge of such a large company. It's not like the IBM board are taking any risks for the sake of political correctness however, Rometty has been with IBM since 1981 and worked her way up from the role of systems' engineer, spending the past six years as senior vice-president where she has been credited for increasing her unit's profit by 42 per cent in her first two years as SVP and then for her role in the formation of IBM's Business Services division.
Though Rometty undoubtedly played a vital role and is "more than a superb operational executive," according to current CEO Palmisano. Under the guidance and steering of Palmisano, IBM ditched many of its hardware lines and focused on services and software, a market in which IBM now hold a very healthy share. Rometty certainly has big shoes to fill, and we'll be watching IBM's performance closely from Janurary 1st as its new CEO warms into the role.
