Why IBM is recruiting 1000 software designers? – Computerworld

IBM is the newest enthusiast, between traditional IT players, to see the design as a key differentiator in the world of enterprise software. Last week, the General Manager of the Design Division (apparently a real position) in the Big Blue, Phil Gilbert said the participants of a conference focused on open source that the company 130 years old will create a design culture.

“We want to bring the design to everything we do,” said the executive, explaining that this means changing people, practices and environments involved in software development. For that to happen, he added, the company is committed to hiring 1,000 designers over the next six years. The idea is that two-thirds of that quota is of recent college graduates.

The aim is that these employees help the organization to apply concepts such as design thinking in order to “generate much better results for our customers, “he said. Recently, the company introduced the “camp” design on a base that holds in Austin (Texas) and said the concept on a smaller scale in other offices around the world.

Perhaps as important was the fact of the company have created a career path for designers, bringing the function as an official position, similar to the software developer, with titles such as “distinguished designer” and Fellow (for those who have not yet reached such status).

With increasing pressure to develop increasingly friendly technologies, focused on usability themes systems gain important players in traditional information technology. The idea, therefore, is no longer delivering products that do not enchant users.

Some may say it is an attempt to change a “conservative” reputation of the company, based in a world made of workers dressed in suit and tie. So, Gilbert points out that the search unit plan, not uniformity. The effort, he said, will “blend the old with the new.”

The leader of the area believe that the slope will bring a huge impact on the future of the company, but recognizes that it will take time to really occur . The strategy, he says, is to first find people to help in the process of changing the mentality, then to win small victories and bring more people to the project. The ultimate goal? “Aligning the entire company to a focus centered on people,” he concludes.