IBM Corp CFO Larry Ricciardi has been telling Wall Street he would be disappointed if the sales from electronic business products doesn’t double every year. The company seems to be in a bit of pickle about how to count that business. Merill Lynch & Co’s Steve Milunovich says an initial attempt to calculate internet-related revenue came up with a figure so high that Big Blue’s got to go back and double check it. IBM is apparently training 17,000 sales people and 4,000 consultants on e-business and its 12,000-strong Global Industry Solutions division’s e- business revenue is already $5bn and said to be growing 20% a year. Its emphasis is on payment systems (Integrion), supply chain management, and customer care. Services and solutions represent half of the e-business market with hardware and software the other half. It has 2,500 programmers – more than Sun Microsystems Inc – working to enhance Java. Its mantra is e- commerce equals web plus IT.
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