New Delhi–Tech giant IBM on Thursday announced the appointment of Martin Schroeter as the Chief Executive Officer of the independent company that will be created following the separation of IBM’s Managed Infrastructure Services business ‘NewCo’.

NewCo will focus on the management and modernisation of IT infrastructure in every industry around the world. The previously announced separation is expected to occur by the end of 2021.

“Martin is a world-class leader and is uniquely qualified to drive the long-term success of the new, independent company. He has a deep understanding of the industry and has earned the trust of our clients and of the investor community,” Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM, said in a statement.

Schroeter served as IBM’s senior Vice President, global markets, where he was responsible for IBM’s global sales, client relationships and satisfaction, and worldwide geographic operations, before leaving IBM in June 2020. Prior to that he was IBM’s Chief Financial Officer and has held a number of other executive roles at the company as well.

Earlier during his IBM tenure, Schroeter served in numerous roles in the US, Japan and Australia. He joined the IBM in 1992 after earning his MBA degree from the Carnegie Mellon University and received his undergraduate degree in Economics and Finance from the Temple University.

“The market for both IBM and NewCo is huge in India. We are confident that joint business of IBM and NewCo will continue to grow in India as the client benefits from the added degree of focus that each company will bring,” Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India/South Asia, had told IANS in an interview recently.

The NewCo would have 90,000 employees. Nearly one-third to one-fourth of IBM employees in India would be part of the new entity.

The company would accelerate its investments ensuring it has the right capabilities needed to develop the next generation of infrastructure services with industry-leading reliability, service and efficiency.

IBM recently announced a $1 billion investment to further develop its hybrid cloud ecosystem – including incentives for third-party software providers to build on the IBM open hybrid cloud platform. (IANS)