IBM named Pat Toole as CIO of the company and gave him an unprecedented amount of power to direct its massive system. Toole takes over at a time of consolidation. The number of data centers was reduced from 155 to five and its application portfolio from 15,000 to 4,500.

The consolidation also includes a shift to centralized IT management. Under this new scheme, Toole will establish IBM's emerging cloud computing strategy and deal with day-to-day operations. Toole told Computerworld that the change in focus will allow for large-scale IT transformation. That can range from ordinary tasks to assessing the impact of an earthquake in the Indian Ocean on communications.

Toole also said a recent IBM survey of 2,500 worldwide CIOs found that CIOs are spending more than half of their time on activities that bring about innovation, and that having a central technology organization is critical.

When the market and opportunity change, "the CIO's office plays a key role in helping figure out what that means from internal process perspective," Toole told Computerworld. "Without question, our professionals can have a very strong impact on our business strategy," he said.

For more on IBM's new CIO:
- see this Computerworld.com article

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