More media coverage, courtesy of The Register, on this latest bloodbath.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/05/25/ibms_watson_layoffs/
6 replies (most recent on top)
Last year they rolled out a clinical review product with one application. It performed so poorly they started bundling it into deals for free so they could announce they had "X" users installed.
WATSON is fake! acknowledge it! should have done this a long time ago! the only person got rich is the bankers and past VPs who broker the deal of these purchase!
was wondering what is happening to these tedtalk personal who promoted watson in their speech and these talkers...
this entire artificial intelligence movement is somehow elusive... stick to the basics..
21vk. I believe you have hit the nail on the head. It’s been documented that Bain is advising IBM. If you go to Bain’s web site, they advertise that they try and split companies up into two “more successful” entities vs one big unsuccessful entity. So with that said, I believe IBM is just right sizing IBM for the inevitable break up. I believe IBM will split into cloud/AI/research and services. Cloud/AI/research would include the labs and the HW divisions (Z and HPC P9 each focused around LINUX, but also carrying legacy since they make money). Essentially this part of IBM becomes DuPont. (Eg inventing things then licensing the IP. They will also run the IP for you in the cloud) . Services would include consulting, services, outsourcing, and IGF.(think anything that can be offshore). Essentially a body shop where cheap labor is the key
IBM bet everything on the 5 "SCAMS" strategic imperatives. 3 died quickly leaving only Watson and Cloud. IBM is a latecomer to the Cloud space and will never get major market share away from the big boys. So all they have is Watson, which is an expensive and unproven solution in search of a problem. Will IBM get AI right before they run out of customers willing to take a chance on Watson?
so they paid over 3 billion for this and what did they get out of it?????????
150 billion in share buy back over 12 years
what if they actually invested in the company maybe sales would improve???
Watson was over promising and under delivering as the first major artificial intelligence platform by a big tech company. What did anyone expect if they can't sell to customers and make it work for their use cases such as diagnosing diseases.