Loughridge

Mr. Loughridge said revenue from business analytics—which mines data to gain insight—gained 16% in 2011, while revenue from cloud computing, which allows users to access their data over the Internet, more than tripled for the year.

IBM Profit Rises on Software, Services Shara Tibken 2012

Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said IBM is "confident in our ability to leverage our business model" to grow profit, revenue and margins.

IBM Profit Rises on Software, Services Shara Tibken 2012

IBM's finance chief, Mark Loughridge, said he expects the consulting side of the services business, known as Global Business Services, to improve in the low- to mid-single digits in the fourth quarter, while infrastructure services, known as IBM Technology Services, should be similar to the third quarter.

Worries Persist for IBM Shara Tibken 2011

The decline was largely due to tougher year-to-year comparisons, Mr. Loughridge said, with the fourth quarter of 2010 seeing the largest mainframe sales in IBM's history.

IBM Profit Rises on Software, Services Shara Tibken 2012

Software, meanwhile, is expected to post "another strong quarter based on the pipeline that we can see," Mr. Loughridge said.

Worries Persist for IBM Shara Tibken 2011

Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said the gains came even as government spending on technology services fell.

For IBM, Picture Looks Bright Shara Tibken 2011

Mr. Loughridge said IBM posted double-digit revenue growth in 40 emerging markets, with overall growth-market performance outpacing developed nations by 10 percentage points.

For IBM, Picture Looks Bright Shara Tibken 2011

The company also noted that the increase in outsourcing backlog--up $8 billion from the previous quarter to $142 billion--"was due to the significant demand for our offerings in the growth markets as we help our clients build out their IT infrastructures," Loughridge said.

Business Spending Bolsters Tech Earnings Roger Cheng 2011

More photos and interactive graphics "There's a lot of opportunity for us to capture," Mr. Loughridge said.

For IBM, Picture Looks Bright Shara Tibken 2011

"That's why, in our fourth quarter, we saw pretty good performance in our business, especially in our key investment categories and our software business," Mr. Loughridge added.

IBM Profit Rises on Software, Services Shara Tibken 2012