IBM turns 100

IBM today is marking the 100-year anniversary of its founding on June 16, 1911. To celebrate the milestone, the company today released a book, “Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company,” debuted a new film “Wild Ducks” and marked the anniversary by ringing the Opening Bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

During its first century, IBM has played a leading role in transforming business, science and society. The company’s history can be seen as a succession of key milestones – from investing in a research lab in the depths of the Great Depression, to developing the first hard disk drive that created the data storage industry, to working with the U.S. government to develop the Social Security System.  It continued with such “big bets” as a radical new computing model, the System/360 mainframe, the invention of the UPC code, the invention of the IBM Personal Computer that launched the PC revolution, and the recent development of Watson, the computer that triumphed on the TV game show Jeopardy!.

“IBM Middle East has worked alongside many of the region’s largest organisations and academic institutions to bring its latest technologies to the region since 1947. We’ve formed a strong relationship with many countries in the Middle East thanks to our leadership across a huge range of technologies, including supercomputers, integrated solutions, software, services and technologies catering to small and medium businesses as well as large enterprises,” said Takreem El-Tohamy, General Manager, IBM Middle East and Africa. “As IBMers across the world celebrate 100 years of great achievements and take pride in having the best resources of scientific expertise that have transformed and touched just about every aspect of our daily lives; we are planning hard for an even more innovative 100 years to come.”

Chairman of the Board, President and CEO Samuel J. Palmisano identified the key lesson IBM has learned over 100 years: In order to succeed for the long term, you must manage for the long term.

“For IBMers, long-term thinking means continually moving to the future,” he said. “IBM has survived and thrived for 100 years by remaining true to our core values, while being ready to change everything else. This has allowed us to transform technology, business and society through our first century, and we believe it will enable us to achieve even more in our second.”

One of the oldest living IBM alumni, Luis A. Lamassonne is 105 years old and resides in Miami, Florida.  He joined IBM in 1933 and worked at the company for 38 years, rising to become an executive in Latin America.

Reflecting on IBM’s Centennial today, Lamassonne said, "IBM has always been one of the best companies. The company is special because of the people.  I have faith that IBM will survive for many more years, for another century."