I just read an exclusive article in Information Week on this shake up. Here are the details:

1. Big change -- Ambuj Goyal is out. He has been shifted laterally to IBM's Systems and Technology Group (ouch) and will report to Rod Atkins, STG's Senior VP.

2. The Solutions group will be headed by Mike Rhodin -- former Lotus executive. Reporting to him will be Rob Ashe, GM of business analytics (former CEO of Cognos) which will include Cognos and SPSS, Alistair Rennie, GM of Lotus, and an unnamed GM for industry solutions (frameworks and enterprise content management)

3. The Middleware group will be headed by Robert LeBlanc (formerly led IBM's software sales and marketing team). His reports are Craig Hayman, GM of application and integration middleware, Arvind Krishna, GM of information management, Danny Sabbah, GM of Rational, and Al Zollar, GM of Tivoli.

These moves will enhance IBM's Smarter Planet iniitiative started last year, according to Mills, by helping the company find high-value and high-growth opportunities.

Wow -- it will take time to digest this major overhaul but I find it interesting that IBM has split the information management from business analytics so completely. Probably a logical split given that information management is so much more than just BI or analytics.

I look forward to your thoughts on this huge change to IBM's organizational structure.

As always, yours in BI

Claudia