Ginni Rometty replaces Palmisano as IBM chair

ENTERPRISE VENDOR IBM has elected Virginia M. Rometty as its next chair of the board.

She will replace Samuel J. Palmisano at the start of October. Palmisano will step down from the board but will act as a Senior Adviser at IBM until he retires on 1 December.

Ginni Rometty is IBM's ninth CEO and also serves as president. She worked up through the ranks at IBM and lead the integration of IBM and PwC services as well as sales, strategy and marketing.

When she took on the role of IBM president and CEO Rometty was seen as a safe pair of hands, something that will have been helped by overseeing the integration of Pricewaterhousecoopers.

In a statement IBM called that the "largest acquisition in professional services history", adding that it saw IBM take on more than 100,000 business consultants and services experts.

"Ginni Rometty has successfully led several of IBM's most important businesses over the past decade - from the formation of IBM Global Business Services to the build-out of our Growth Markets Unit," said Palmisano when her appointment to chair the IBM board of directors was announced.

"But she is more than a superb operational executive. With every leadership role, she has strengthened our ability to integrate IBM's capabilities for our clients." µ