IBM 2001 Annual Report Download - page 53

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risen from their deathbeds
—
but they came back smaller,
diminished and, frankly, irrelevant. On top of that, many
people, even inside IBM, didn’t believe an outsider could
do the job.
About the only person who didn’t have doubts (about
almost anything, it seemed!) was Lou. From his first day,
he said IBM was going to get back on top. Then he set to
work making it so. Nine years later, it’s hard to imagine
an IBM without a world-class services capability, without
a self-renewing capacity for technical innovation and
without the strongest product line in its history. Even
more astonishing, it’s becoming hard to remember an
IBM whose culture wasn’t grounded in simple-but-vital
principles like marketplace obsession, speed, shareholder
return and the make-or-break importance of talented,
energized people.
That’s all part of the IBM Lou envisioned in 1993,
and the IBM we’ve built under his leadership. Along
the way, Lou did one more thing. He made all of us in
IBM winners again. And because he did, I’m able to tell
you, our investors, that your company and its people
are strong.
I’m humbled not only to be here at one of the most
exciting moments in our industry’s history, but to be
given the privilege of leading this truly meaningful com-
pany, with the finest workforce in business. We’ve got the
right strategic vision
—
one that is being emulated by
many. And if there is one thing this team has proved
again and again
—
whether it was betting on services,
creating e-business, embracing Linux, or in the ongoing
work to restructure our PC business
—
it is that we have
the smarts, the agility and the guts to seize a new direction
and to lead change.
Together, we’re going to build on everything we’ve
done to this point, and make IBM the most successful
company in the information technology industry
—
and a
leader among businesses in any industry. The work has
already started. In fact, it never stops.
Samuel J. Palmisano
President and Chief Executive Officer
ceo’s letter
51