IBM Exec Zisman Retires

Zisman confirmed his departure by e-mail, saying he will continue to consult with the computing giant, and maybe other clients. He will also teach at the University of Pennsylvania.

Most recently, Zisman was vice president of Corporate Strategy for IBM, Armonk, N.Y. In the past decade, he has also headed up the company's storage software effort and IBM's Lotus Software subsidiary, after IBM purchased Lotus in 1995.

Zisman had been president of SoftSwitch, a Philadelphia area purveyor of technology that bridged disparate e-mail systems. Lotus acquired SoftSwitch in 1994 and was subsequently itself acquired by IBM in the summer of 1995.

When former Lotus CEO Jim Manzi left IBM/Lotus just months later, he recommended Zisman for his job. Zisman lead Lotus until he scaled back his duties to attend to family matters. At that time Jeff Papows stepped into Lotus' top slot.