The initial consensus on Wall Street regarding IBM's (NYSE: IBM) announcement Wednesday that it would eliminate another 1,570 positions is that the effort represents another prudent action in its "reorganizational tripod" of fewer positions, cheaper positions, and reinvented positions.

Further, the reorganization effort represents nothing less than wholesale transformation of the company as it confronts the multi-directional competitive winds of the globalization era. Job eliminations bring Big Blue more in line with today's continuously right-sizing, temperature-taking business environment. Wholesale shifts of jobs to lower-cost markets -- IBM's India workforce surged to 52,000 in 2006 from a scant 9,000 in 2003 -- helps IBM make up for lost time vis-a-vis lower-cost competitors. And, perhaps most significant, IBM's operational shifts -- including rethinking how it delivers services -- create a more nimble, higher-value company that can respond to clients' needs quicker and more productively. IBM's shares closed Wednesday up $1.03 to $106.93.

Further, more position "rebalancing" may be ahead: IBM, which with Wednesday's cuts has now eliminated 3,700 positions in 2007, still has about 356,000 employees, including an eye-opening 128,000 based in the United States. And as part of those cuts, many analysts in the quarters ahead see a continued trimming of global services in favor of software, where revenue is growing faster.