IBM suspended from federal contracts…. WHHAATT?!?!?!?!

I saw this on Slashdot and nearly fell out of my chair. This is HUGE. For IBM, this is a major blow to their brand, as well as their balance sheets. US contracts contribute a significant amount to their bottom line.

For the Federal Government, I see no way that other agencies are just going to kick IBM out. It would be like throwing the baby out with the bath water. IBM simply has too much of a footprint to just be shipped out. Plus it would be ridiculously expensive for the US departments (a.k.a the taxpayers like us) to replace all the IBM equipment and software already in place.

I have no idea what happened, and all my sources are silent. Either someone at the EPA has a short fuse, or a group of IBM’ers (or subs as the case may be) really pissed in someone’s corn flakes. IBM could lose out on as much as $1.5 BILLION if this does not get resolved. That means a lot of IBM folks out on their ears in layoffs or forced retirements otherwise.

Here is IBM’s official press release. This does not look like an April Fool’s joke.