Industryweek 14819 Roadmap Trash

IBM Ditches 'Roadmap'; Workers Say Good Riddance

Oct. 24, 2014
A group of IBM workers has issued a statement excoriating the company's "Roadmap 2015" (which some have been sardonically referring to as "Roadkill 2015"), saying it has done "enormous damage" to IBM and has made the company's work environment "toxic."

These are dark days for Big Blue. And not just in terms of financial performance. Employee morale at IBM appears to be bottoming out too.

On Monday, IBM reported that its third-quarter profits had collapsed, that it was offloading its microchip business to GlobalFoundries, and that it had abandoned its "Roadmap 2015" goal of reaching $20 earnings per share by next year.

And now, this morning, a group of IBM workers has issued a statement excoriating that Roadmap (which some have been sardonically referring to as "Roadkill 2015"), saying it has done "enormous damage" to IBM and has made the company's work environment "toxic."

That story also notes that investors will have to wait till January for Rometty and her team to update IBM's outlook for next year, and it predicts that the company's best chance to succeed will be to focus on cloud-related products and services.

As another analyst puts it, "For IBM to really be successful going forward, Rometty and her team need to be successful creating an IBM that’s focused on the next generation of cloud spending. That’s where enterprises are moving, and they need to build a product and services strategy [based] on the cloud environment."

I'd add that to be successful going forward, those leaders also need to create an IBM that's focused on its current generation of employees. That's where enterprises are moving. They need to build a strategy that addresses the workers' environment, and their morale, and their confidence in the decision makers who will drawing up IBM's roadmaps in the future.

Popular Sponsored Recommendations

The Ultimate Ecommerce Excellence Checklist

Oct. 2, 2023
Scaling ecommerce operations is no easy task when your business is moving fast. Assess your current ecommerce maturity level and set optimization priorities with this practical...

Shifting Your Business from Products to Service-Based Business Models: Generating Predictable Revenues

Oct. 27, 2023
Executive summary on a recent IndustryWeek-hosted webinar sponsored by SAP

How Organizations Connect and Engage with Frontline Workers

June 14, 2023
Nearly 80% of the 2.7 billion workers across manufacturing, construction, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, hospitality, and education are frontline. Learn best practices...

The Benefits of Continuous Thermal Monitoring

Oct. 17, 2023
Read this eBook to learn more about collecting and using data intelligently to improve performance.

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of IndustryWeek, create an account today!