IBM's experience in attempting to transform to "One
IBM" provided a glimpse of both the opportunities
and challenges that IBM's customers would face.

Gerstner believed that, while the technology
platform was a critical catalyst, value creation
would demand business innovation on a scale that
most enterprises were ill-equipped to handle.

(Applegate, 2008).

"As Palmisano considered the opportunities
and threats that IBM faced in the decade ahead,
he recalled the dark days of the early 1990's, and
he was committed to not just define strategic
direction for the company but to set a course
that would enable IBM to return to its former
"greatness." Palmisano summed up his vision:

"History suggests that a sustained period of growth
is about to begin for the $1.4 trillion information
technology industry. At the same time, new markets
opening up on its borders. But the rewards will
not be shared equally. Over most of our nearly
100-year history, IBM was consistently a company
that outperformed others in our markets and generated
superior returns. And that was because we were
singularly focused on leading and most often creating
and defining, the high-value spaces in our industry ..
But it's also apparent that somewhere along the line
we became more focused on defending our existing
leadership position than on creating the next one. We
weren't particularly bold or imaginative in getting into
new markets or developing new businesses, products
and services, even when our strategic analyses indicated
that something new was coming. And just as important,
we hesitated to reinvent or get out of businesses that
no longer represented high value for either clients or
shareholders. In a word we lost sight of IBM's mission.
of what had always set us apart. Well, we've regained our
focus now. IBM is an innovator - in every dimension of
that word. We know that IBM and IBMers are at their
best when they create value that our clients cannot get
from anyone else. That means we will provide leading edge
technology, services, expertise and intellectual
capital and will integrate these capabilities for each
client to provide them with competitive advantage. We
commit to that. We commit to innovating to deliver client
success.

S. Palmisano, "Letter to Shareholders, IBM Annual
Report, 2003.