IBM Sharpens Its Focus on SMB

Following on the last week's news of a proposed Hardware Division restructuring, IBM has further positioned itself in the midrange market. It has created a new business unit, the Mid-Market Business Unit, to focus on companies with fewer than 1,000 employees.The Mid-Market Business Unit is one of the two units (the other being the Enterprise Business Unit) contained within the General Business Group, which is the new name for IBM's Small and Midsize Business Group. The reorganization is intended to address midmarket needs directly with dedicated territory sales reps and telecoverage reps. In addition, IBM plans to devote $100 million to marketing to midrange customers worldwide, up about 25 percent from last year.ChannelWeb