IBM Succeeds In Preventing Its Former CIO Join AWS

Looks like Big Blue has succeeded in their quest to stop a man that they thought knew too much from joining AWS. IBM was rather stressed with this move, but can now rest at ease.

Remember Jeff Smith, the CIO at IBM?

The one who was sued by his former employer to prevent him from joining Amazon Web Services? He left the company in May 2017 after being offered a senior position at AWS, but IBM was quick to enforce its noncompete agreement.

That’s because it felt that Smith knew all about its plans to revamp its cloud business, and would have taken that knowledge to Amazon Web Services, the reigning leader of the cloud industry.

Well, long story short, these efforts seem to have worked, as energy management company World Fuel Systems announced last week the arrival of Smith as its executive vice president and chief operating officer.

The company highlighted his expertise in bringing agility to business teams, and believes that Smith will prove to be instrumental in driving improved operational performance to provide an exceptional experience for its customers and suppliers.

No cloud business here, then.

Apparently, IBM and Smith agreed on a settlement in September, which the Southern District of New York was happy with and dismissed the case. No details on the settlement, but the court documents do reveal that AWS went to considerable lengths to create a job for Smith.

A position that would have gotten around his noncompete agreement with IBM.

Another day in the exciting world of cloud.