After this 1Q17 results announcement, it's well worth re-familiarizing one's self with Cringely's #6 Prediction, which he proclaimed in 1/2017:
http://www.cringely.com/2017/01/09/15395/
"Prediction #6 — Come-to-Jesus time for IBM. The most important 2017 event for IBM will be the retirement at 60 of CEO Ginni Rometty. The future of Big Blue absolutely depends on the actions this year of her successor. If she follows the example of the two previous IBM CEOs Rometty will stick around for a year as chairman before flying-off to paradise in her jet.
The reason I call this a Come-to-Jesus time for IBM is because the next CEO will have a chance to do something different with the company. If he or she decides to break with the past IBM has a chance. If the new CEO takes whatever game plan Rometty hands over and runs with that, then IBM is doomed.
Rometty was handed a bad plan by Sam Palmisano, loyally tried to make it work for two years and then has been improvising poorly ever since. She should have used her mandate and changed the plan immediately. Mandates don’t last.
This is very tough for the incoming CEO. IBM’s current plan isn’t working and isn’t sustainable. You can only eat your seed corn for a short time before future harvests are compromised. IBM can only sell divisions and borrow to buy back shares and raise the dividend in the absence of real revenue for so long. Interest rates are rising and the dollar is strong, both of which are bad for this strategy. The right CEO will realize this and will break with Rometty’s plan even as she remains as chairman. If they wait a year for Rometty to depart, it will be too late.
So it could mean a bloodbath in the executive suite at IBM. Except it probably won’t. I believe the company has lost its heart. That’s still a Come-to-Jesus moment except in this case Jesus won’t be there."