CASE STUDY · Cleversafe (acquired by IBM)

Creating a category, then the biggest exit in Chicago tech history.

Brand, digital, PR, and analyst programs behind Cleversafe's rise in enterprise object storage, its $1.4 billion acquisition by IBM, and the launch of IBM Cloud Object Storage.

TL;DR

01
Invented enterprise object storage and had to teach the market, and the analysts, what that meant.
02
Worked directly with the CEO through multiple funding rounds: full rebrand, digital and paid programs tied to pipeline, PR with Edelman, Gartner and Forrester analyst work.
03
Leader position in the IDC MarketScape and Gartner Magic Quadrant, in a category we created. Wins with Comcast, Sky, and KDDI.
04
Acquired by IBM for $1.4 billion, the largest exit in Chicago tech history at the time. Rebranded as IBM Cloud Object Storage and launched the cloud offering.

This is the one that made me. Cleversafe invented object storage for the enterprise and then had to teach the market what that meant. On-premises product. Buyers that included some of the largest enterprises in the world. And a category that didn't exist yet in the analyst reports those buyers read before they spent a dollar. Through multiple funding rounds, the company had to show up like the leader of a market it was still defining. So that's what we did.

I worked directly with the CEO through the years it took to build the company. We rebranded Cleversafe from the ground up—logo, colors, and messaging—and I ran the digital properties and social channels behind it, with a paid program built from scratch in PPC, content syndication, and paid social, all tied to pipeline. Every launch, press announcement, event, and executive briefing ran through the same team. We managed Edelman on PR. And we did the enterprise work that decides a category: Gartner briefings, in person and at their shows, Forrester papers, and an analyst relations campaign that didn't let up. Anything you could think of that was cool in marketing ten years ago, we were doing it. It wasn't even called ABM then.

When IBM acquired the company in 2015, I moved with it. I rebranded Cleversafe as IBM Cloud Object Storage, took on ibm.com/cloud/object-storage alongside the original properties, and joined the team that turned the on-premises product into a cloud offering and launched it as part of the backbone of IBM's cloud infrastructure. Launching a cloud product inside IBM after building a startup brand is a different sport, and I've played both.

The digital program generated millions in sales pipeline, doubled social engagement, and supported major wins with Comcast, Sky Broadcasting, and KDDI. The analyst campaign put Cleversafe in the leader position in the IDC MarketScape and Gartner's Magic Quadrant for object storage, in a category we created. IBM acquired Cleversafe for $1.4 billion, the largest exit in Chicago tech history at the time.