How does IBM march forward? Combining GBS with GTS makes sense in that you are spinning off legacy operations to the cloud. (this harvests CRM, ERP, lotus, etc etc while creating redundancies in head count). THUS the 10-15k RA. My guess is it will be deeper.
This combining / cloud movement, doesn’t take care of the day to day outsourcing operations. THUS my belief of a Spin off of non-strategic operations to a low cost / off shore operation. The remaining approx 60 billion “strategic/ enterprise ” operations will then be polished up for a possible absorption into someone who can use IBM’s expertise. Someone, who can afford, and appreciate what the “strategic” IBM brings to the table???
There are only a couple of folks who appreciate what they bring to the table, and can afford it. ALSO remember they most likely will have to be USA owned. So net it out. Who likes P9 HW especially around LINUX, who likes “Enterprise penetration especially around Z14, who likes a patent portfolio that keeps giving and giving, who likes a “strategic consulting group with strategic SW to boot, and finally who likes a cloud player who will boost/ enhance their cloud operations.
Net these questions against who can afford to write a check with their recently brought on shore earnings, or better yet who can afford to issue stock for a non-taxable acquisition and I believe you have the way forward...