IBM Rochester, Minnesota: The Silverlake Project

The Silverlake Project story tells how a group of engineers, programmers, and planners, totalling about 2,500, transformed themselves from a technologically driven laboratory, into a customer-focused and market-driven organization. The transformation began when Tom Furey came to Rochester as manager of the IBMR Development Lab. This is a story of decision-making, which integrates the activities of the technology and marketing functions, on their journey from success, to overpowering by competitors, to building one of IBM's most successful businesses. IBMR established itself in the midrange computer market, but failed to read the entrance of the competition. Evidently, the engineers and programmers built the organization, by being oblivious to the needs of the marketplace. This is well demonstrated when Tom Furey asks for information about the IBMR customer base and receives blank stares. IBMR was financially very successful during this period and IBM Headquarters evidently concerned itself only with the financial performance.