The shift to providing the integration glue within an open networked platform also had
implications for the importance of IBM’s services units. By shifting resources and attention to
services, by 2000, IBM Global Services (IGS) had grown to be the world’s largest IT consulting and
Web services organization, providing 38% of IBM’s $88.4 billion revenue, compared with only 16%
less than 10 years before.26
“Fifty percent of the $1 trillion opportunity [from the Internet] comes from services,” Gerstner
explained in 2000. “It dwarfs the other categories, and in that business we lead across the world.”27
While vendor independence was sometimes an issue for customers, IBM’s technical expertise was
also a strong drawing card. Fueled by record growth in the sale of Internet-related services and
associated hardware and software, in 2000, IBM reported record sales ($85.1 billion) and profits ($8.1
billion). More importantly, the passion that had come from surviving its “near-death experience” and
then riding the wave of what many in the company were beginning to call the “next big thing”
captured the imagination and focused the energy of a demoralized workforce looking for a reason to
reengage in building for the future.