Charles King

It is difficult to think of a Tier 1 vendor that placed a bet on cloud computing earlier than IBM. In 2007, the year after AWS launched its seminal S3 cloud storage and EC2 services, IBM announced plans to develop cloud solutions for enterprise customers. Four years later, the company said its cloud services were […]

The pervasiveness of technologies that touch virtually every corner of consumer and commercial life tends to obscure how solutions evolve to address changing markets. While those shifts are often subtle, vendors can alter their own efforts to benefit customers and help them deal with serious existing and emerging threats. It is important to note that […]

Like most corporate communications, how companies talk about themselves should be taken with a couple of pounds of salt. The worst tend to be simplistically self-aggrandizing. Yet other examples can offer meaningful insights into an organization’s plans and self-perception. That is particularly true following significant changes in leadership, such as the January announcement that Pat […]

Since early 2013, the year Microsoft launched its first Surface Pro, PC vendors have been exploring the value and limits of detachable or ultra-portable 2-in-1 laptops. The general approach was straightforward – take the tablet with detachable keyboard concept of Apple’s iPad but add features to make it a truly business-class device. (Apple, slow to […]

The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) model is deeply ingrained in the tech and consumer electronic industries, as well as in other markets where commercial products depend on industry standard components. But while IT vendors are widely recognized as traditional OEMs, many also fill vital roles for another class of OEMs—companies that base their own solutions […]

It’s been over half a decade since a Windows operating system (OS) launch made significant headlines – June 1, 2015, in fact when Microsoft introduced Windows 10 with an “Upgrade Your World” advertising campaign and “A more human way to do” tagline that emphasized the company’s aim to fully personalize the experience of end users. […]

Strategic adjustments are vital to any organization’s survival, especially in the IT industry, where the pace of technological change can blindside even well-prepared companies. Bold or unconventional new initiatives require additional care since they often require workers and business units to adapt to unfamiliar processes and practices. The situation for a company’s channel and other […]

Over the years, I’ve written quite a bit about the longevity and durability of IBM’s mainframe solutions, especially regarding the company’s ongoing efforts to keep its IBM Z platform current with enterprise computing trends and practices. However, it’s also worth considering how IBM has adapted mainframe offerings (and adjusted its own attitude) to stay aligned […]

For the past year and a half, life has been both massively challenging and exhilarating for business technology vendors and their customers and partners. As the COVID-19 pandemic forced companies to fundamentally rethink the way workers, managers and executives performed essential tasks, vendors responded with innovative new solutions and services. Organizations adopted and deployed those […]

Virtually all large-scale tech conferences highlight broadly focused strategic initiatives and objectives. Many are described by vendors as “transformational,” but more than a few of those are overblown and eventually buried or superseded by new initiatives announced at following events. However, a few carry the potential to significantly transform the companies launching them, along with […]