IBM

Big Blue refers to International Business Machines (IBM), an American global technology business with headquarters in Armonk, New York that operates in more than 175 countries. From mainframes to nanotechnology, it has you covered with its hosting and consulting services, not to mention its specialized hardware, middleware, and software. IBM has held the record for the most yearly U.S. patents generated by a firm for 29 consecutive years, from 1993 to 2021, and is the largest industrial research organization in the world, with 19 research locations across a dozen nations.

Established in 1911 as a holding company for producers of tabulating and recording devices, IBM was originally known as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). After a name change to "International Business Machines" in 1924, the company quickly rose to prominence as a primary source for punch-card tabulating machines.

IBM would go on to dominate the market for electric typewriters, electromechanical calculators, and personal computers over the course of the next few decades. IBM's System/360 mainframe was the de facto standard for enterprise computing in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and IBM went on to manufacture 80% of all computers in the United States and 70% of all computers globally.

Founded: June 16, 1911
Headquarters: Armonk, New York, U.S.
Website: https://www.ibm.com/