Big Blue's former CIO tried to join AWS, ends up at energy company

IBM seems to have managed to prevent its former CIO from joining Amazon Web Services.

Jeff S Smith left IBM in May 2017 after being offered a senior contract at AWS.

This move really pissed IBM off because Smith knew all about Big Blue's plans to reorganize his cloud and set sail for Amazon. Therefore, IBM threw a throwing ball at Smith and tried to enforce his non-compete agreement.

This effort seems to have worked, as the energy management company of World Fuel Systems last week proclaimed Smith's arrival as chief executive and chief operating officer.

According to World Fuel Systems, "Smith's agility experience for sales teams will help improve operational performance to deliver a great experience to our customers and suppliers."

The record read court documents in the case and suggest that IBM and Smith reached an agreement in September and the Southern District of New York was satisfied with the terms and dismissed the case.

Judicial records do not include the details of the agreement, but reveal the arguments used. Smith's team argues that he was not privy to the secret details of the next IBM cloud, his conversations with the AWS people did not reveal the secret and attempts to use Big Blue their non-competition agreement was punitive and an example for the another 1,700 members bound by those agreements. AWS also made considerable efforts to create a job for Smith that would avoid its non-competition.

IBM stated that Smith knew the company well and, therefore, knew that going to AWS was a no-no.

The fact that the parties have moved, each paying its own costs, suggests that common ground has been found. But it's not central enough to allow Smith to work for AWS before his non-competition expires next year. The World Fuels statement, however, does not suggest that Smith's position is temporary: it seems that Big Blue has brought his man to wherever he wants him to go. ®