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After a tenure of 31 years during which she carved DB2 into a sharp Oracle competitor, Janet Perna is retiring as general manager of data management solutions for the IBM Software Group, an IBM spokesperson told eWEEK.com on Tuesday.
In August, Perna will turn over the reins to Ambuj Goyal, general manager of Workplace, Portal and Collaboration for IBMs Software Group.
She leaves IBM in good stead when it comes to databases. Gartners most recent analysis of the market for relational databases showed that IBM controlled 34.1 percent of the market—a slim margin over Oracle Corp., which held onto 33.7 percent of the overall market.
Pernas retirement comes a day after IBM, the worlds largest computer company, posted an earnings report that revealed a healthy growth of 6 percent in revenue, after discounting a 4 percent drop in revenue that included the sale of its PC business to Chinas Lenovo Group Ltd. Shares of IBM jumped 3 percent to $84.49 after the report.
Perna is also leaving in the midst of an ongoing buying spree on behalf of the Software Group. On Tuesday, IBM announced that it plans to acquire PureEdge Solutions Inc., a privately held company based in Victoria, British Columbia. PureEdges technology will bring e-forms to IBMs Workplace portfolio, as well as to IBMs portfolio of On Demand software, through alignment with IBMs WebSphere and IBM Content Manager offerings.
Pernas departure comes amid other management shuffles: Top management at IBMs Global Services division has been changed to include Ginni Rometty, Mike Daniels and Bob Moffat, who will now head IBM Global Services, reporting to Chairman and CEO Samuel Palmisano, according to news reports.
John Joyce, former head of Global Services, has left IBM to take a position at private equity investment firm Silver Lake Partners, according to news reports.