"IBM is in a long-term decline, and now they're talking about being a software company. This is my problem: They're still a massive services company," says Fred Hickey, editor of the High-Tech Strategist newsletter. "And buying back shares, generating 'other income' and enforcing patents is not, to my mind, a good long-term story."

Palmisano and his lieutenants aim to change that perception, in part by emphasizing strong profits, even in an environment where information-technology spending growth has slumped to single digits. The plan is to sell corporate "solutions" that integrate offerings from all three of IBM's massive product lines.

The vision now? To make the services division look more like software.

This is only one part of the full Barron's article, but it's what I could find for linking ...