Dive Brief:

• IBM is now five years into its plan to reinvent itself, and its competition is tougher than ever, according to Financial Times. The pressure largely comes from its competitors — other computing giants such as Microsoft and Amazon — that have worked to offer new services in the digital age. 

• IBM’s revenue has now declined for 20 consecutive quarters and investors are like Berkshire Hathaway have divested some of its investment. 

• Big Blue has high hopes for its cloud business, but the company remains well behind Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud market, and IDC estimates IBM will fall even further behind by the end of this year, according to the report. 

Dive Insight:

IBM has been looking to build its cognitive computing, cloud and IoT businesses and shift away from older business platforms.  In April, IBM announced the opening of four new cloud data centers in the United States. The new centers will "support growing enterprise demand for cloud infrastructure that can provide access to services like IoT, blockchain, quantum computing and cognitive."

It’s all part of IBM’s plan to position itself on the forefront of the advanced computing market. But it's not the only company chasing these new markets, and IBM is likely to face unprecedented competition from both newcomers and the "old guard" alike.

Such dramatic business shifts take time. In IBM’s case, they take a lot of time. Until the company stabilizes, investors and employees can expect continued uncertainty. Last spring, IBM announced a plan to "rebalance" its workforce and cut nearly one-third of the U.S. staff.