It has approximately 160,000 employees[2] globally, with capabilities spanning strategy and management consulting, experience design, technology and systems integration, and operations.

Additionally, with the launch of its early teleprocessing and database products, such as CICS and IMS, many customers could acquire the expertise needed to build their applications only through hiring consulting services directly from IBM.

As the management consulting became more entangled with more technology delivery, the integrated organization became known as IBM Global Business Services.

In 2002, IBM acquired the management consulting and technology services arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers,[6] around the same time some other Big Four accounting firms were selling off their consulting arms (this was in order to avoid conflicts of interest in light of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act).

In 2016, IBM announced its planned acquisition of Promontory Financial Group in September 2016 and completed the transaction in November 2016.