IBM Full Form – International Business Machines Corporation

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a famous American multinational technology company. It is also called Big Blue. Its headquarters is in Armonk, New York. IBM is present in over 175 countries. It is a publicly traded company. IBM is known for its industrial research. It has 19 research facilities in many countries. For 29 years, between 1993 and 2021, IBM was the company with the most U.S. patents in a single year.

Full Form of IBM

The full form of IBM is International Business Machines. IBM started in 1911. Its first name was Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). It made record-keeping and measuring devices. In 1924, it became International Business Machines (IBM). IBM soon led the punch-card tabulating business. In the 1960s and 1970s, IBM ruled the computer market. Its System/360 was very successful. IBM made 80% of U.S. computers. It made 70% of computers worldwide.

IBM History

• IBM began in 1911 as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). It was formed by merging companies making scales, recorders, and time clocks. CTR changed its name to International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924.
• IBM grew fast under Thomas J. Watson Sr. He focused on sales, discipline, and customer service. IBM expanded to many countries by the 1930s.
• During WWII, IBM machines were used in Nazi Germany. IBM also made weapons and computers for the U.S. IBM launched its first computer in 1952. The hard disk drive was invented by it in 1956.
• In the 1960s, IBM built systems for NASA’s space missions. It launched System/360 in 1964. This helped IBM dominate computing for years.
• IBM also invented the magnetic stripe card & barcodes. It created SABRE for airlines and developed FORTRAN language. IBM helped pioneer AI with computers that learned games like checkers.
• IBM made its debut in the personal computer industry in the 1980s with the IBM PC. This shaped modern computing. But IBM lost ground to competitors due to weak protections.
• IBM and Microsoft worked together on OS/2. However, Windows became more successful. IBM split off a number of businesses in the 1990s. Lenovo purchased its printer business and then its PC division.
• IBM turned to software and services. It bought Lotus and PwC Consulting. IBM also focused on AI and cloud computing in the 2000s.
• In 2011, IBM’s Watson AI won Jeopardy! IBM bought many companies like Red Hat and Turbonomic. It sold its x86 server business and split off Kyndryl in 2020.
• IBM stopped business in Russia in 2022. It acquired several AI and cloud companies recently. IBM continues to focus on AI, cloud, and data services.

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IBM Headquarters and Offices

• IBM’s headquarters is in Armonk, New York. It is 37 miles from Manhattan. The main office is called CHQ. It is a glass and stone building. Nearby are two more IBM buildings: North Castle office and the Gerstner Center for Learning.
• IBM operates in 174 countries. In the U.S., major offices are in Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Rochester, and Silicon Valley. In New York City, IBM Watson headquarters is at Astor Place.
• IBM owns buildings worldwide. Some examples are in Beijing, Atlanta, Montreal, Rome, Johannesburg, Seattle, Tokyo, and Munich. IBM India’s head office is in Bangalore. Other Indian offices are in cities like Chennai, Pune, and Delhi.
• Some old IBM campuses, like in Somers and Paris, are now closed. IBM buildings were designed by famous architects like Mies van der Rohe and I.M. Pei.

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IBM Business Trends

• IBM’s market value was over $153 billion in May 2024. IBM is still one of the largest technology companies. It ranks 67th by revenue in the U.S. In 2020, it ranked 38th on the Fortune 500 list.
• IBM’s revenue has been falling slowly. The company has fewer employees now. IBM moved focus from hardware to cloud, AI, and software. IBM has faced criticism. Some say it focused too much on short-term profits.

IBM Board and Shareholders

• IBM’s board has 15 members. They manage the company’s key decisions. Several board members are CEOs of big corporations. These include Anthem, Dow Chemical, Johnson & Johnson, Royal Dutch Shell, UPS, and Vanguard. Other members include the president of Cornell University and a retired U.S. Navy admiral.
• Vanguard Group is IBM’s biggest shareholder. As of March 31, 2023, it owned 15.7% of IBM’s shares. In 2011, Warren Buffett’s business, Berkshire Hathaway, purchased IBM stock. It spent $10.5 billion on 64 million shares. Buffett later sold most of these shares. By May 2018, Berkshire Hathaway had sold all IBM shares.

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IBM Products

• IBM makes many products and services. These include cloud computing, AI, data, analytics, IoT, cybersecurity, and IT infrastructure.

Hardware

• IBM makes mainframe computers. These started in 1954. The latest is IBM z17, launched in 2024. IBM makes microprocessors too. IBM’s Power chips were used in Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U. IBM also built Secure Blue for encryption.
• IBM made TrueNorth, a chip that resembles the human brain, in 2014. IBM also makes quantum computers. In 2019, IBM launched IBM Q System One. In 2024, Europe’s first IBM quantum computer opened in Germany.

Software

• IBM has owned SPSS since 2009. It is statistical analysis software. Research in the social sciences benefits from it. The Weather Company was also owned by IBM. It offered weather predictions. Weather Underground and weather.com were among them. In 2024, IBM sold The Weather Company.

Cloud Services

• IBM Cloud offers many services. It provides IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS. These are available through public, private, and hybrid cloud models. IBM Bluemix helps developers. They can create complex websites quickly. It follows a pay-as-you-go model.
• IBM SoftLayer provides dedicated servers. It also offers managed hosting and cloud computing. In 2011, it hosted over 81,000 servers for 26,000 customers. IBM also offers Cloud Data Encryption Services. It uses cryptographic splitting to protect data.
• In May 2022, IBM and AWS signed the agreement. AWS Marketplace now offers IBM software. Both companies agreed to joint investments. This helps companies use IBM software more easily. It also includes developer training and software development for key markets.

Artificial Intelligence

• IBM Watson uses machine learning & natural language processing. In 2011, Watson won on Jeopardy!. Today, Watson helps in business and healthcare. It works with Memorial Sloan Kettering for cancer care. Many companies use Watson for customer service.
• IBM provides tools to NYPD to analyze crime data through Cognos Analytics. In 2020, IBM left the facial recognition business. IBM’s CEO asked lawmakers to rethink facial recognition in law enforcement.
• In 2023, IBM launched Watsonx. It helps companies build AI models. IBM later made Granite AI models open source. In 2024, IBM launched Granite 3.0, an AI model for business.

Consulting

• IBM has 160,000 consultants worldwide. IBM offers strategy, technology, and design services. In 2024, IBM’s consulting earned $20 billion.

IBM Research

IBM has a long history in research. Its efforts began in 1945 with the Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory at Columbia University.

• Today, IBM Research stands as the world’s largest industrial research organization. It runs twelve laboratories on six continents. The main headquarters is at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York. Other key labs are in California, Texas, Melbourne, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, Shanghai, Dublin, Haifa, Delhi, Bangalore, Tokyo, Zurich, and Nairobi.
• IBM spends billions of dollars each year on research and development. IBM invested about $6.9 billion in research and development in 2012. In 2014, it invested $1 billion in Watson. In 2015, it spent $3 billion on semiconductor research and $4 billion to grow its strategic business areas like cloud, security, and analytics.
• IBM has supported open source software since 1998. It invests heavily in Linux and has over 300 Linux kernel developers. IBM has released open-source projects like ICU, Eclipse, & Apache Derby.
• IBM has contributed many important inventions. These include the ATM, DRAM, electronic keypunch, financial swap, floppy disk, hard disk drive, magnetic stripe card, relational database, RISC, SABRE reservation system, SQL, UPC barcode, and virtual machine.
• IBM researchers used a scanning tunneling microscope to use xenon atoms to spell “IBM” in 1990. This was the first structure made one atom at a time. IBM holds many patents. Prior to 2021, it held the top spot in the world patent rankings for 29 years in a row.

IBM Brand and Reputation

IBM is often called Big Blue. This is due to its blue logo and blue-themed branding. It also refers to IBM’s old dress code. Employees once wore white shirts and blue suits. The current logo has eight bars. It was designed in 1972 by Paul Rand. It replaced a 13-bar logo. Old photocopiers struggled with narrow lines.

• IBM used Helvetica font for 50 years. In 2017, IBM introduced its custom font, IBM Plex. IBM’s brand is very valuable. The company has over 100 years of marketing history. Since 1996, IBM has partnered with The Masters Golf Tournament.
• IBM built the first Masters.org website in 1996. In 1998, IBM introduced the first course cam. In 2009, IBM made the first iPhone app with live streaming for The Masters.
• The first live 4K broadcast for a sporting event in the United States was introduced by IBM in 2016. Because of this, CEO Ginni Rometty joined Augusta National Golf Club. She became the third female member.
• IBM sponsors professional tennis tournaments. These include the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open, and French Open. IBM sponsored the Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000. IBM also sponsored the NFL from 2003 to 2012.
• In Japan, International Business Machines sponsors an American football team. The team plays in the X-League as IBM Big Blue. They have a stadium, cheerleaders, and TV coverage.

IBM Workplace Culture

IBM employees are called “IBMers.” IBM’s culture has changed over time. In early days, employees wore dark or gray suits. They also wore white shirts and “sincere” ties. In the 1990s, IBM changed its rules. CEO Louis V. Gerstner Jr. relaxed dress codes. IBMers began dressing more casually. IBM’s name has inspired jokes. Some say IBM means “I’ve Been Moved.”

This refers to frequent relocations. Others say “I’m By Myself.” This refers to IBM’s remote work culture. Some say “I’m Being Mentored.” This reflects IBM’s mentoring culture and open-door policy. IBM has resisted labor unions in the U.S. But outside the U.S., some IBM workers have union representation.

IBM Full Form FAQs

Who is IBM's CEO?

IBM's chairman and CEO is Arvind Krishna. As a technologist and business leader, he has spearheaded IBM's development and growth of new markets in blockchain, cloud computing, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence.

What is IBM CEO's salary?

In 2024, International Business Machines CEO Arvind Krishna's total compensation increased by 23%, bringing his earnings to $25 million. Compared to the $20.3 million he made the year before, this represents a substantial increase.

Is an interview at IBM simple?

The role, the level of experience needed, and the particular interview stage can all affect how difficult an IBM interview is.