IBM: In Search of…New Revenue

“We will not simply ride out the storm. Rather, we will take a long-term view, and go on offense.” That was the promise IBM CEO Sam Palmisano made in his annual letter to shareholders this week detailing Big Blue’s plans to forge new markets in infrastructure services. And here we are just a few days later and the company has already set about fulfilling it. IBM (IBM) announced a new water-management services effort today, one that will see it bringing its information technology acumen to bear on the systems used to monitor reservoirs, water pipes and the like. “There’s a lot of stress on water systems around the world,” Sharon Nunes, head of IBM’s Big Green venture, told The Wall Street Journal. “With a limited supply, you’d better be able to manage it.”

And better to manage it with IBM technology than not. After all, between $15 billion and $20 billion of the new stimulus package is aimed at water projects, which means the water-management services market will likely be worth at least that much in five years. Fresh water is becoming big business–especially as population growth and pollution further tax the resource.