IBM: From Inventor to Innovator

In the late-1990s, IBM Research announced the development of another supercomputer, called Blue Gene, which would use deep computing to help biologists explore how proteins folded themselves up into their distinctive shapes. Blue Gene was being touted as the fastest computer on earth, capable of performing one quadrillion calculations per second. IBM was also developing 'on-demand-computing', that was widely believed to be the future of computing. On-demand-computing would enable customers to purchase variable amounts of computing power according to their requirements at different times, as they did for public utilities like electricity and water. Using on-demand-computing, customers would be able to respond to changes in their technological requirements, faster...

In the early-2000s, IBM was actively managing the relationship between pure and applied research to ensure continuing relevance to its products. IBM Research was also proactive in creating and evaluating technology transfer programs and ensuring that innovations had commercial relevance. Considering the breadth and depth of the research at IBM, many analysts felt that it was capable of helping IBM regain its past glory, making it a dominant force in the future. It was also noteworthy that IBM managed to steady itself in time and did not lose its markets completely. Analysts compared IBM favorably with other companies like Xerox and Pacific Bell, whose research wings, PARC and Bell Laboratories, never managed to do much for the parent organizations, despite being the inventors of path breaking products...