IBM Services Business Unveils New Post-Split Name: Kyndryl

The $19 billion managed infrastructure services business will be based in New York City and operate under the name Kyndryl once it separates from IBM later this year.

IBM has settled on a new name for its $19 billion managed infrastructure services business once it’s spun out from Big Blue later this year: Kyndryl.

The Armonk, N.Y.-based technology giant revealed Monday that Kyndryl will be based in New York City and adopt a logo with the company’s name written in red and entirely in lowercase. The spinout of the 4,600-client Kyndryl business is expected to occur by the end of 2021, more than a year after the separation plan was first unveiled.

“Kyndryl evokes the spirit of true partnership and growth,” CEO Martin Schroeter said in a statement. “Customers around the world will come to know Kyndryl as a brand that runs the vital systems at the heart of progress, and an independent company with the best global talent in the industry.”

[Related: IBM Picks Two Tech Vets To Lead New, Yet-To-Be Named Services Business]

The company’s name came about from combining the first portion of the word “kinship” with the second portion of the word “tendril.” Kinship was chosen to reflect that relationships with employees, customers and partners are at the center of the new company’s strategy, while tendril was selected to indicate that the new business is always working toward advancing human progress.

“Creating a name is just the start of our journey as a brand,” Chief Marketing Officer Maria Bartolome Winans said in a statement. “It will help identify us and support recognition, but the meaning of the name will be built and enhanced over time from our behaviors, aspirations and actions, and what we enable our customers to do.”

Kyndryl will be going after a $500 billion market opportunity focused on managing client-owned IT infrastructure and has a $60 billion services backlog from customers across 115 countries. Longtime IBM veteran Schroeter was announced in January as the company’s CEO following a two-and-a-half-year stint overseeing Big Blue’s global sales, worldwide geographic operations and client relationships.

“At Kyndryl, we design, run and manage the most modern and reliable technology infrastructure that the world depends on every day,” Schroeter wrote in a LinkedIn post Monday. “Kyndryl evokes this spirit of partnership and growth, so we can continue to create a healthy digital ecosystem for our employees, customers and communities we serve.”

The company said last month that Elly Keinan would serve as Kyndryl’s group president, while Winans would take the CMO position. Keinan previously worked as general manager of IBM North America, general manager of IBM Latin America and chairman of IBM Japan. Winans, meanwhile, has been responsible for demand generation across the U.S., Canada and Latin America as IBM Americas CMO.

Following the spinoff of Kyndryl, IBM will be focused on developing cutting-edge technology for hybrid cloud computing and digital transformation. The 110-year-old company will retain the $8 billion Global Technology Services cloud services consulting business; the $17 billion Global Business Services unit; the IBM systems business; and software products around big data, artificial intelligence and security.

IBM Global Services has for many years been ranked on the CRN Solution Provider 500 as the largest solution provider in the world, offering global business services, cloud services consulting, and managed infrastructure services (what will become Kyndryl). Once the managed infrastructure piece is split off from IBM’s other solution provider offerings, Accenture will likely catapult into the No. 1 slot on the CRN Solution Provider 500.