Palmisano, who has been CEO for nearly a decade and is staying on as chairman, is being replaced by IBM Corp.'s first female CEO, Virginia "Ginni" Rometty. She is in charge of IBM's sales and marketing and has long been whispered about by industry watchers as Palmisano's likely heir.
Rometty's appointment, effective Jan. 1, means that women will be in charge of two of the world's biggest technology companies.
Last month, Meg Whitman was named CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.
