IBM转型不力，CEO罗睿兰主动放弃年终奖

    IBM首席执行官罗睿兰将放弃年终奖。

    罗睿兰于本周二发表了上面这个声明，这个举动在科技公司首席执行官中是少件。它意味着罗睿兰深知自己身陷泥潭。确实，IBM季度营收再次不及华尔街预期，公司全年营收998亿美元，同比下滑5%。按照通用会计准则，全年净利润为165亿美元，同比下滑1%。

    蓝色巨人IBM已连续三个季度令华尔街失望。

    IBM曾以快速转型而著称，它一方面能迅速放手陷入衰退期的业务，另一方面能作为先行者涉足新兴市场，但它如今的行动却不够迅速。罗睿兰执掌IBM的两年时间里，这家位于纽约州阿蒙克的科技公司已经掉队，迟迟没有打造出面向未来的新兴武器，也就是云计算、移动互联网、社交网络以及大数据。同时，它又一直跟已经过时的硬件产业纠缠不清，迟迟没有出手卖掉这些资产。

    罗睿兰用放弃年终奖的举动向大家表示，她将承担起IBM转型不顺的责任——罗睿兰将其称为“艰难再造”。

    不过，IBM也并不是一片愁云惨雾。事实上，这家公司季度每股收益创下新高，达到5.73美元，环比增长12％。那些希望获得更多价值的股东会为此感到高兴。不过，每股收益不一定能反映公司未来的增长潜力。IBM董事会去年十月批准了斥资150亿美元用于股票回购，它可能还会延续这一战略。同时，IBM的软件业务增长了4％，服务订单存量的总额为1430亿美元。

    近几周，感到情况不妙的IBM格外卖力，试图在此前收获甚微的市场有所斩获。1月9日，IBM宣布投资10亿美元于新成立的IBM沃森事业部。这个部门将在纽约雇用2000人，同时，它还将成立一只1亿美元的基金，以促进沃森开发者云（Watson Developers Cloud）中的创新。随后，1月17日，IBM宣布将投资12亿美元扩充其全球云业务实力。这家公司将在2014年新建40座数据中心，使自身云计算能力翻一番。过去四年，IBM已斥资70多亿美元，用于进行和云计算相关的收购。

    过去十年，IBM一直在积极拆分旗下传统的硬件业务。然而，这项业务至今仍然令IBM不堪重负。去年春天，曾有报道称IBM正努力将该业务出售给联想，但最终双方因价格谈不拢而作罢。如今，IBM再度谋求出售低端服务器业务，联想以及另外几家公司都在考虑之列。

    IBM一些大手笔投资似乎开始有所回报。它的云计算业务营收达到了43亿美元，年增长近70％，有望跻身云计算领域的第一方阵。【据分析师估算，竞争对手亚马逊公司（Amazon）去年的营收为32亿美元，但亚马逊并未公布营收。】IBM公司2015年的路线图可谓雄心勃勃。根据该路线图，IBM的云业务规模2015年将达到70亿美元。IDC首席分析师弗兰克•金斯称：“IBM正大举投资，以期在未来五年成为数一数二的云服务企业。现在就看执行的情况了。”

    IBM似乎准备在未来五年跻身云服务企业三强，另外两家跻身三甲的公司可能是亚马逊和微软（Microsoft）。IBM能否梦想成真？一切就看执行的情况了。(财富中文网)

    译者：项航

    IBM (IBM) chief executive Virginia "Ginni" Rometty is passing up her annual bonus.

    It's a rare move for any tech CEO, and it signals that Rometty knows she's got trouble on her hands. She made the announcement Tuesday as the company missed Wall Street's expectations yet again for its quarterly earnings, reporting a five percent annual revenue decline to $99.8 billion for 2013. Net income according to generally accepted accounting principles fell one percent for the year, to $16.5 billion.

    It's the third quarter in a row that Big Blue has left analysts feeling disappointed.

    In short, a technology company that has built its reputation on moving fast to exit aging businesses while being the first to enter new businesses is not moving fast enough. In the two years since Rometty took the top job at IBM, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company has fallen behind in building the tools of the future -- namely for cloud computing, mobility, social networking and big data -- while struggling with archaic hardware businesses it has been too slow to sell.

    In giving up her bonus, Rometty is signaling that she's willing to take responsibility for the transformation of IBM -- what she calls "restless reinvention."

    Still, not everything is doom and gloom at the company. IBM reported a record $5.73 quarterly EPS, up 12 percent for the quarter, which will please shareholders seeking more value from their holdings. Still, that figure doesn't always provide insight into the company's ability to grow in the future. IBM's board authorized a $15 billion authorization for share repurchase last October, so it's likely the company can continue this strategy. Meanwhile, IBM's software business grew 4 percent. The company's service backlog is $143 billion.

    Sensing trouble, IBM has in recent weeks made additional effort to get traction in the markets that have eluded it. On January 9, IBM announced a $1 billion investment in a new IBM Watson business unit that will employ 2,000 people in New York and include a $100 million fund to boost innovation within its Watson Developers Cloud. Following this was a January 17 announcement that the company will invest $1.2 billion to expand its global cloud footprint, doubling the company's cloud capacity by building up to 40 new data centers in 2014. In the past four years, IBM has invested more than $7 billion in cloud-related acquisitions.

    But IBM's traditional hardware businesses, which the company has moved aggressively to offload over the last decade, continue to weigh it down. The company has revived its efforts to sell its low-end server business. Efforts were reportedly underway to sell the business to Lenovo last spring, but they broke down over price. Lenovo is one of several companies rumored to be in the mix today.

    Some of IBM's considerable investment shows early signs of taking hold. At $4.3 billion, the company's cloud business is up nearly 70 percent for the year, positioning it to be among the top cloud-computing contenders. (According to analyst estimates, competitor Amazon managed $3.2 billion in revenues over the past year, though Amazon does not break out the figure.) According to the company's ambitious 2015 roadmap, IBM will have a $7 billion cloud business by 2015. "IBM is making the investments to be one of the top two or three cloud-based players in the next five years," says IDC Chief Analyst Frank Gens. "Now it'll all hinge on execution."

    IBM looks to be positioning itself to be in the top three cloud players in the next five years, along with perhaps Amazon and Microsoft. Will it succeed? It will all depend on one word: execution.