Experts give IBM's new CEO the thumbs up: He could be the 'heavyweight' the company needs to really compete with Amazon and Microsoft (IBM)

January 30, 2020

Experts give IBM's new CEO the thumbs up: He could be the 'heavyweight' the company needs to really compete with Amazon and Microsoft (IBM)

Arvind Krishna, IBM's senior vice president for cloud

IBM's decision to name Arvind Krishna as its new CEO got the thumbs up from experts, who say the 29-year company veteran he has the technological chops and business savvy to lead the company.
Krishna, who joined the company in 1990, will take over as CEO in April, replacing Ginni Rometty. Experts familiar with his record at IBM say he is an excellent choice to lead the company at a time when it is struggling to regain its luster in the tech world.
"You need a heavyweight to compete with Satya [Nadella], Sundar [Pichai], [Mark] Zuckerberg and the tech giants," analyst Ray Wang of Constellation Research told Business Insider."Customers need to know there's a tech leader with business experience, not the other way around," Wang added.
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Arvind Krishna, the incoming CEO of IBM, is not as well known as the other executives at the helm of other tech giants.

But shortly after he was named successor to Ginni Rometty, experts familiar with the role he played at the corporate behemoth called him an excellent choice.

They say Krishna, 57, who joined IBM in 1990, has both the technological chops and business savvy to lead an iconic powerhouse whose star has somewhat faded amid big changes in the tech landscape.

Krishna, who has a PhD in electrical and computer engineering, had served as a general manager and vice president of several key IBM divisions. He is currently senior vice president for cloud and cognitive software. He will take over in April.

"You need a heavyweight to compete with Satya, Jeff, Sundar, Zuckerberg and the tech giants," analyst Ray Wang of Constellation Research told Business Insider. He was referring to the heads of the other tech giants: Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Google's Sundar Pichai and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg.

"Customers need to know there's a tech leader with business experience, not the other way around," Wang added.

Those skills are important as IBM struggles to play a bigger role in cloud computing, where it has been outpaced by Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Krishna has been leading IBM's strategy which focuses on the hybrid cloud, and the $34 billion acquisition of Red Hat which is seen as a key component of that game plan.

IDC President Crawford Del Prete called IBM's decision on Krishna "a great move."

"Clearly IBM is leaning into the cloud, developers and future platform development," he told Business Insider. "In my opinion, Arvind is about creating a cloud-first world and developing products that support future customer development in the cloud."

Analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy also highlighted the role Krishna has played in evolving IBM's strategy amid emerging trends in technology.

"Krishna spearheaded many of the next-generation IBM initiatives like the Red Hat acquisition, blockchain and quantum," he said.

Krishna is expected to work closely with James Whitehurst, the CEO of Red Hat, who has been named president of IBM. That's a good sign, Moorhead said, noting that it will be good for IBM to have "an outsider and a long-time IBMer running the company in the number one and two spots."

Marty Wolf, president and founder of Martinwolf M&A Advisors, echoed a similar view, noting that both Krishna and Whitehurst share a common strength.

"Krishna and Whitehurst are both experts in the cloud," he said. "Krishna led the company through its blockbuster acquisition of Red Hat, and we've seen just recently in its earnings statement that Red Hat is, or could be, IBM's future. This move enables IBM to be better equipped to capitalize on the growing cloud market, and potentially regain what it has lost."

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