Gina Wong

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer/s.

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Not one of those 22+ years IBM life story, mine was 2.25 year - and one that is “At the Right Time” for the “Right Purpose” -

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I recalled the 2 most asked questions throughout my career from the day I joined IBM :-

Why did you leave AWS ?! (Shocked) 

Why did you join IBM ?? (Puzzled)

 

Well, to many whom I have shared the story - I left AWS as I wasn’t growing and needed to do more (& find my mojo!)

 

Frankly and quite understandably, IBM then, was not top of mind but an inspiring transformational senior executive heavily influenced my decision to take up the offer. (Story better told live :)) What stood out was that “IBM was going through a dramatic transformation in history” - and if I want to help drive change and make an impact - THAT was the best time to join. So my charter was clear - to raise the bar, inspire change and make history along the way ~ Being part of IBM at an era of dramatic transformation - notably historic long periods of declining revenue - at that time ~15 consecutive quarters !

 

Fresh face of cloud in IBM ASEAN, I spent a large part of my time and energy “cloudifying” internal salesforce across various cloud and non-cloud BUs and driving a winning culture to beat the competition.  Then there were the Customers, where I love to share the “New IBM*” story [*IBM is a cognitive solutions and cloud platform company…. video that records the 100th y/o company’s evolution].  I was proud evangelising the New IBM as I clearly represent one, striding in my sneakers and smart casuals.  I will never forget that same look on Customers face (priceless!) whenever they learned that I am new in IBM and joined from AWS. It is satisfying when they tell you they felt ‘refreshed’ and positive of our new direction, focused on the cool stuff - Cloud, Watson AI, Blockchain etc.

 

Yohoo ! After 22 consecutive quarters of declining revenue, IBM returned to revenue growth for the 1st time in 5 years !! (Jan 2018) 

So “right time - right purpose” - it’s gratifying to be part of it !

Rest of story is really kicking ass (positive word is inspiring I hope!), notable 1st in world and flagship wins, winning over competition with IBM Cloud and building new regional cloud ecosystem partnerships.  The Best has yet to come and they often come late !! - my last appointment was leading new Cloud Managed Services BU in Asia Pacific @ Global Technology Services (GTS). Albeit “home” in my last 2-3 months, the new role was one I will miss most - incredible leadership and teams @ AP & Global (you know who you are !) I am truly humbled and grateful for the retention efforts and will NEVER FORGET-

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Finally, leaving a little legacy behind - our talented IX team turned my “whiteboarding” of What & Why IBM Cloud? into an infographic 1 pager - love it and will keep it to remind me of my big blue experience. In there, it states my advocate for Customers to subscribe to the “Best of Breed” cloud services - each CSP is #1 in something - find out what they are and even better, if there is a curator that brings you the best of breed !

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To all IBMers, Customers & Partners through this journey, THANK YOU for the friendship, partnership and experience!

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With blue blood running in me, I am off to my most exciting career venture - 

Inspired to reinvent my career , from predictable to one that’s all about mystique -

“When you leave your comfort zone, let loose your pent-up creativity and allow yourself to unleash your own potential (sometimes even unknown ones!) - the sky is the limit.” - GINA WONG

 

Fearless of change and the unfamiliar - I am ready to embark and give my best shot ! 

No Limits 

Make Your Mark

Up the Ante

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That’s where I am headed...