$46,213,000,000.00

I was doing research for a Canadian TV spot I was on earlier this week, and I looked up the answer to the question: “What is IBM’s consulting revenue?” In 2004, IBM’s gross revenue was $96B, of which $46B was Global Services, i.e. consulting. I see that basically as testimony to how our profession—the IT profession—has failed our customers. Nothing against IBM; in fact, as solution-providers go, my experience is that IBM GS is pretty good. But if you see IBM as a microcosm of the industry, it shouldn’t cost $46B in consulting to deploy $50B worth of technology. It’s not going to be easy to get there, and it’s going to take a long time, but we just have to focus on making things simpler.