New IBM CEO Takes Over, New Cloud Boss Appointed

International Business Machines Corp has on Monday named former Bank of America top technology executive Howard Boville as head of its cloud business.

It comes as former IBM cloud boss Arvind Krishna takes over as CEO of Big Blue, from long-serving CEO, President and chairman Ginni Rometty.

In February it was revealed Rometty was to step down on Monday 6 April, after nearly 8 years in running IBM.

Cloud demand

It was then disclosed that IBM would handsomely reward the leader, who for years has overseen a management policy that saw Big Blue shrinking “by design”.

For her last full year year in charge at IBM, Rometty has been awarded $20.1 million.

Meanwhile new IBM boss Arvind Krishna, 57, who was previously Big Blue’s senior VP for cloud and cognitive software, has taken over as CEO on Monday.

Krishna penned an open letter to IBM staff, in which he pointed out that the spread of coronavirus could push companies to speed up their adoption of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud.

“I’m writing to you for the first time as your new CEO in the midst of a global public health crisis unlike any other that we have faced,” said Krishna. “This global pandemic is affecting everyone and has disrupted the rhythms of our daily lives.”

“If there’s one thing that this public health crisis has brought to light it is the ever essential role of IBM in the world. We are the backbone of some of the most critical systems of the world,” said Krishna.

He added that he believes that customers will increasingly demand a hybrid cloud in the year ahead.

“IBM has already built enduring platforms in mainframe, services, and middleware,” said Krishna. “All three continue to serve our clients. I believe now is the time to build a fourth platform in hybrid cloud. An essential, ubiquitous hybrid cloud platform our clients will rely on to do their most critical work in this century. A platform that can last even longer than the others.”

“The fundamentals are already in place,” he said. “Our approach to hybrid cloud is the most flexible and the most cost effective for our clients in the long term. Coupled with our deep expertise, IBM has unique capabilities to help our clients realize the potential of a hybrid cloud business model.”

New cloud boss

Meanwhile IBM has also announced the appointment of the person who will oversea the delivery of this hybrid cloud offering to customers.

Former Bank of America CTO Howard Boville has also been appointed as head of IBM’s cloud business.

In his role as Bank of America CTO, Boville was responsible for building and running the cloud services of the second largest bank in America.

IBM has also appointed Paul Cormier as the new chief executive officer of Red Hat, who has succeeding Jim Whitehurst, who was named IBM’s president in late-January.

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