By Angela Chen
Lance Crosby, an executive at International Business Machines
Corp.'s cloud-computing unit, has left the company amid the
computing giant's push to become a top player in the fast-growing
area.
A replacement hasn't been named.
Mr. Crosby, 44, was chief executive of cloud-services company
SoftLayer, which IBM bought for $2 billion in 2013. Mr. Crosby had
run Dallas-based SoftLayer for eight years before it was
purchased.
"Now that the business is successfully integrated into IBM, I am
ready to take some time off before I pursue my next challenge,"
said Mr. Crosby in a statement.
IBM has mounted a high-stakes campaign to increase its
visibility in the cloud-computing space. Last year, cloud services
brought in $7 billion in revenue. SoftLayer--which runs data
centers that run customers' own applications--contributed nearly
$3.5 billion to that amount. Though revenue for the cloud-services
segment is less than 8% of IBM's annual revenue, it is growing at a
60% rate.
In early January, IBM named Robert LeBlanc , a 33-year Big Blue
veteran, leader of its new dedicated cloud unit, reporting directly
to Chief Executive Virginia Rometty. He oversees SoftLayer, which
is now trying to differentiate itself with a global network that
spans 49 data centers and counting. Other parts of the cloud unit
include software as a service, a term that refers to programs that
once would have been installed on customer computers but now are
served up over the Web.
The company has also unleashed a stream of cloud-related
announcements, some with sizable dollar values. Earlier this month,
IBM said the health-care company Anthem Inc. agreed to pay nearly
$500 million over five years for services that would help Anthem
integrate its apps delivered via the cloud with those run in its
own facilities.
Shares of IBM have been down about 13% in the past 12 months
through Tuesday's close.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@dowjones.com
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