IT firms lack future plans: IBM chief

Most information technology companies don’t have strategic plans that extend beyond a year ― not to mention longer-term vision, said Michael Harmon, vice president of IBM Asia Pacific. Mr. Harmon, speaking at a Seoul press conference yesterday, was promoting the company’s new Open Infrastructure Offering solution. Quoting research conducted by McKinsey, Mr. Harmon said that after the dot-com bubble burst, companies changed course, from sales increases to cost reductions, but in the process reduced funds so much that they didn’t have much left over for strategic investments in the future. “But a few ‘best of the best’ companies managed to reduce costs and find funds for long-term investments. Their methods of differentiation were mainly consolidation, standardization, and automation,” Mr. Harmon said. He added that in the process of meeting with many companies, he had discovered that most clients had no vision for the next three to five years, and no roadmaps. “It is important for companies to find new financial models that are flexible and affordable, but it is difficult for senior officials to deal with internal resistance,” he said. “However, top executives must be bold in changing directions in order to see the overall picture and see ways to lower the cost of IT infrastructure.” by Wohn Dong-hee