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CEO Of SoftLayer, Lance Crosby, Has Left The (IBM) Building

This article is more than 9 years old.

When IBM acquired cloud computing vendor SoftLayer in July 2013, many applauded the deal. Indeed SoftLayer has been something of a revelation for IBM , allowing it to begin competing in the vitally important cloud market.

Alongside the commercial benefits however, many saw the additional DNA that SoftLayer CEO Lance Crosby brought to Big Blue as important. IBM is a massive organization that, at times, has been perceived as slow-moving. Gaining someone of Crosby's stature join was massively positive.

Of course the reality of acquisitions is that often the executives from the company being acquired move on after their option period ends - often two years. Alas Crosby hasn't waited even this long and the company has announced that he has left IBM.

Crosby was overlooked for the top cloud job, a job given to an IBM veteran of some 30 years, Robert Leblanc. No disrespect to Leblanc, who I've not yet met, but what IBM needs right now is  a hand at the wheel that does things differently. The company has some exciting products and services - Watson, SoftLayer and its BlueMix PaaS are three examples. But an existing tension between "the way we always do things" and these new opportunities is palpable. Barb Darrow, writing at GigaOm put it succinctly when she commented on Leblanc's promotion saying:

...Robert LeBlanc, who joined IBM in 1981, is now the official cloud guy, aka SVP of Cloud  — so those hoping for an outsider perspective to guide IBM’s cloud may be disappointed.

IBM is strongly denying the alleged massive number of layoffs that some suggest it is soon to make. Regardless of whether or not that cull will happen, Crosby's departure can only be seen as a heavy blow.

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