Rating: 
Summary: A Juicy Read into IBM, Gerstner, & IBM Executives
Review: As both an IBM employee & one very interested in the workings of this unique company, I enjoyed reading 2 just-released books in the past 2 weeks, Robert Slater's Saving IBM and Garr's. Slater's was the business case version of IBM. Garr's was the real scoop behind the workings of not just Gerstner but his many lieutenants, both long-time IBM employees and outsiders. Although I was somewhat embarrassed by some of the stories, including the FUMU's, I still enjoyed the book. I was disappointed in the lack of coverage with IBM Global Services.
Rating:
Summary: A Juicy Read into IBM, Gerstner, & IBM Executives
Review: As both an IBM employee & one very interested in the workings of this unique company, I enjoyed reading 2 just-released books in the past 2 weeks, Robert Slater's Saving IBM and Garr's. Slater's was the business case version of IBM. Garr's was the real scoop behind the workings of not just Gerstner but his many lieutenants, both long-time IBM employees and outsiders. Although I was somewhat embarrassed by some of the stories, including the FUMU's, I still enjoyed the book. I was disappointed in the lack of coverage with IBM Global Services.
Rating:
Summary: A fast-paced insider's view of a major business reversal.
Review: Doug Garr, former speech writer for a major player in the IBM turn-around, writes a no nonsense, fast-paced book of IBM's return as a major player in the computer world. This is nothing less than a human interest story of the man who turned around a major US corporation, a man with an IBM-size ego but who shuns personal publicity, even to the extent of refusing an interview with the author, apparently a journalist with a respectable background. Truly puzzling. The reader is never bored with Mr. Garr's account of Gerstner. There are just enough details and intrigue for the business school student and the every-day reader. For example, IBM is commissioned to do all the computer stuff for the Atlanta Olympics, part of Gerstner's effort to turn this company into the money maker it once was by boosting its public image. Will it succeed? IBM and Lotus are engaged in merger/aquisition discussions. Who has the upper hand? Will the deal go through? IBM can't get to first base on the personal computer business and like clock, year after year, trails the likes of Compaq, etc. Will it turn this division around or is it doomed to utter failure? These and other business cliff-hangers make this book a must for anyone in any kind of business, anyone in the "computer world," and anyone even mildly interested in one of the leading business leaders of our time. Five "computers up" for Mr. Garr's book! I look forward to "IBM-Redux, Part II" in a few years.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete Puff Piece
Review: I bought this book hoping to get some useful analysis into IBM's earlier problems and the solutions applied by Gerstner. Instead, it delivers very little deep info. This book seems more like an unauthorized biography of Lou Gerstner than a useful business analysis. Don't waste your money!
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Summary: IBM employees and this book
Review: I don't know what the problem is with the IBM employees reviewing the book. Guess, they're the same arrogant ones that got IBM in trouble in the first place by thinking good technology is everything you need to succeed in the current market place. Anyhow, anyone who ever wanted know more why the IBM stock bounced back and IBM became one of the most interesting companies in the current internet driven market, should read this book. After a short excursion to the origins of Lou Gerstners life before IBM (AmEx, etc.) the book does a great job telling the story how Lou & the gang cleaned IBM up without boring you with to many technical and managerial details. If you own or run technical oritented business (or think starting one), you can learn some valuable lessons about what drives the market.
Rating:
Summary: Loaded with gossip, and some of it is probably true
Review: I know many of the players described in the book and even some of the events. It is loaded with IBM jargon, and I'm surprised that people outside the company find it readable. Some of his throwaways are dead wrong -- for example, that the advantage that CMOS mainframes have over bi-polar is that they are program compatible with Unix machines. No wonder he was let go as a speechwriter for the Server Group! My recommendation is borrow this book from the library.
Rating:
Summary: Loaded with gossip, and some of it is probably true
Review: I know many of the players described in the book and even some of the events. It is loaded with IBM jargon, and I'm surprised that people outside the company find it readable. Some of his throwaways are dead wrong -- for example, that the advantage that CMOS mainframes have over bi-polar is that they are program compatible with Unix machines. No wonder he was let go as a speechwriter for the Server Group! My recommendation is borrow this book from the library.
Rating: 
Summary: Gerstner glosses over the story
Review: I was disappointed in the book because I felt that Gerstner was more concerned about the political correctness of his book and complimenting himself, rather than telling the whole story. Gerstner seems more than willing to describe all of the tough, and in his mind, the correct decisions he had to make during his tenure at IBM. He fails to shed much light on the fact that IBM was unable to compete in the major tecnology areas (other than the maniframe) during his tenure. Disk Drives, sold to Hitachi, PC Desktops - declared Dell the winner, Microsoft/Intel - never competed, Networking - Cisco is the winner, application software - lost to SAP, Peoplesoft, CA, etc., UNIX Servers - 3rd place finish behind SUN and HP. He only focuses on one area - services/outsourcing - where IBM was successful during his tenure. I believe that IBM could be an even stronger company today had Gerstner been able to win on more fronts. I would love to read a book about the real IBM and what really went on behind the scenes.
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Summary: I'm a confirmed Mac-azoid, but Garr's IBM take interests me
Review: I'm a confirmed Mac-azoid, but Garr's IBM take fascinates me. As an editor of an entertainment world journal, I'm more interested in the movie business than the computer business, even business in general. Garr's work, however, is an attempt to get inside the mind of a mogul -- the same kind of driven individual who can move big things ... corporations, aircraft carriers, movie studios. How do their accomplishments track in their bowels and bellies, and how will they show up in the entrails of history. Garr is an able paleontologist who took me on a trip.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong start with weak finish
Review: I'm a Fortune 50 senior executive so my reading perspective may be different, but I found the first half of this book very valuable. You got a good short picture of Gerstner, and good sense of what he and Jerry York did in the first couple of years to get IBM turning around. You get a good sense of the overarching visions that drove each man (Gerstner, making size work, York, cutting costs and forcing better accountability), and watch them work to make their visions work (including the various, and typical, mis-steps in hiring). Once the company turns profitable, however, the book reads like gossip. Who got a FUMU promotion. What aspects of Lotus Gerstner didn't understand when he purchased it. That's normal corporate stuff.
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