IBM GSA pure blue

IBM has announced it will buy out partners Telstra and Lend Lease to take 100% ownership of IBM Global Services Australia (GSA).

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,7089481%5E15306%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

This is a good thing from our (IBM) point of view given that this is the only country (that I’m aware of) where IBM Global Services is not 100% owned by IBM – and the engagement model has been quite different and somewhat troublesome as a result.

Now that they will be 100% blue, I hope we can rely on them to be a more focussed services organisation with a solid mandate to help drive product sales for IBM proper. Naturally they need to be able to recommend the best product for the engagement in question – regardless of vendor – but I hope they will be able to focus more on the benefits of IBM products for their engagements, and work more closely with IBM in developing and supporting those products.