IBM's turnaround man heading for Shanghai

By PETER GRIFFIN

After turning around IBM's New Zealand business it was only a matter of time before Nick Lambert was fingered for bigger things.

The respected managing director is bound for an IBM post in Shanghai where he will head the computer giant's iSeries computer server business for the Asia Pacific region, where there are already about 80,000 of the powerful machines deployed.

Lambert saw IBM to a $46 million profit last year but he took the top job 4 1/2 years ago at which time IBM had accumulated $100 million in losses.

He is credited with successfully re-structuring IBM and also took a wider interest in the IT community through his position as president of the IT Association.

Lambert said he felt he was leaving an IT industry that was in good shape with many local companies having had a "bumper year".

He said that his time as managing director was the most rewarding of his career. His biggest achievement, he said, was "building an outstanding team" of about 700 IBM workers. "The local business has never been in better shape," he said.

That team will now be headed by Katrina Troughton, a New Zealander returning home after managing IBM's software business in Australia and New Zealand from Sydney.

Describing his Mandarin as "tragic", Lambert said was comfortable about venturing to China.

"It's not uncharted territory for me.

"I've spent time working overseas in the United Kingdom and Australia."