IBM was created in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company.
The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company formed through the merger of several businesses, including the Tabulating Machine Company. It adopted the name International Business Machines, or IBM, in 1924.
IBM built an influential business in punched-card data processing before becoming a major computer manufacturer and enterprise-technology provider. Its System/360 family, introduced in 1964, helped establish a compatible mainframe-computer architecture used across different models.
IBM is distinct from Microsoft and Oracle, which became prominent through personal-computer software, databases, and enterprise applications. IBM’s long history also explains why its market position has changed across technology eras, from mechanical tabulation and mainframes to consulting, hybrid cloud, and artificial-intelligence services.