The next era for IBM will be in the hands of Virginia Rometty, who was named CEO today to replace Sam Palmisano, who will step down effective January 1 but remain as chairman of the company.

Rometty is now a senior vice president for the company. According to the New York Times, Rometty has lead strategically important sectors of the company as it has shifted to services and analytic software.

The search for a successor to Palmisano has been going on for years.  Steve Mills, senior vice president of the software division for IBM, was perceived as Rometty’s biggest rival for the job. Mills has had tremendous success in his role, leading $25 billion in acquisitions over the past several years.

Mills is a fixture at events such as IBM Information on Demand, where he gave a keynote address this morning about the transforming nature of big data and analytics.

Rometty is a success in her own right. In her work she has lead sales for 170 global markets, giving her a universal perspective about IBM and its business. In 2002, she lead the $3.5 billion acquisition of Price Waterhouse Cooper and then integrated the consulting group into IBM. That meant pairing IBM’s technology and consulting organization with Price Waterhouse services network. It was pivotal in IBM’s transformation to a services oriented organization.

During his term as CEO Palmisano sold off IBM’s personal computer business. He lead IBM’s shift to a services and analytics company. And he oversaw the company’s “Smarter Planet,” initiative, which has positioned IBM as one of the few technology companies to embrace the idea of a fully connected planet.

As the New York Times points out, the formula has worked. IBM’s market capitalization surpassed Microsoft this year. It is now second only to Apple Computer.

More so, I think at least, Palmisano never had the bravado of a Larry Ellison or the showmanship of Marc Benioff.  Instead, Palmisano seemed to make his team the stars, giving  people like Mills the chance to execute on a vision that has helped the company focus on services and the deep need for analytics in an age where data is increasingly the way companies are defined.