Computer History Museum

McGill, Arch oral history

Arch McGill describes his attempts in the late 1960s to get IBM to understand the importance of software as a business opportunity and the road blocks he encountered because of the hardware orientation of top management. He describes IBM's industry-oriented marketing structure in the 1960s and presents his view that the lost of that organizational structure resulted in the company losing contact with its customers resulting in stagnation in the 1970s. He talks about the negative impact of unbundling on IBM's system engineering operation and the belief within IBM that a new industry was being created as a result of IBM's unbundling decision.

Item Details

Date
1985-12-10 (Made)
Type
Document
Catalogue number
102702294
Organization
Computer History Museum
People
Arch McGill (Interviewee)
Luanne Johnson (Interviewer)
Burt Grad (Interviewer)
Category
Transcript
Credit line
Gift of Johnson, Luanne
Extent
26 p.
Place of publication
North America/USA/NJ/Bernardsville
Language
English
Acquisition number
X5758.2010
Subject
ADAPSO, IBM Unbundling, IBM
Archive collection
CHM Oral History Collection
Archive hierarchy
CHM Oral History Collection