IBM

IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York. It designs and sells computer hardware, software, and middleware, and provides hosting and consulting services. The company emphasizes cloud computing, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and enterprise services for business and government customers.

Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company by merging several organizations, it was renamed IBM in 1924. IBM made early advances in business machines and later developed mainframe systems, most notably the System/360 family introduced in the 1960s, which helped standardize large-scale data processing.

Over the late 20th and early 21st centuries IBM shifted from hardware manufacturing toward software and services. It acquired PwC Consulting in 2002 and, more recently, Red Hat for about $34 billion in 2019 to expand hybrid cloud offerings. In 2021 IBM completed the spin-off of Kyndryl, its managed infrastructure services business, which operates as a separate company.

Today IBM markets mainframes (IBM Z), Power systems, software, cloud services, and the IBM Quantum and Watson AI platforms. It operates IBM Cloud and offers AI, analytics, cybersecurity, and research collaborations. IBM Research maintains laboratories worldwide and has contributed to advances in computing, materials science, and quantum information.

IBM is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker IBM and is led by a board of directors and an executive team. The company maintains a large, global workforce and a substantial portfolio of patents and research partnerships.