As the GM of Middleware at IBM, Marie Wieck has been to her share of conferences, but she’s very much enjoyed her first Edge event and the ideas being shared.

“This is the first time we’ve brought together the whole systems view between the server, the storage and the software,” she said. “So I’m really excited to be here. We’ve had some great client conversations on how they’re really trying to drive their digital transformation and how they see the synergy.”

Meeting the challenges of the new digital landscape

In an interview with theCUBE, Wieck highlighted some of the ways that IBM is transforming to meet the challenges of the new digital landscape.

“A lot of the customers I talked to said they’re delighted that they’re now seeing IBM relate to them the way they’re organized — that they have all of the infrastructure elements, they are bringing together systems of engagement and systems of record, and now our systems team is really mirroring the way they are bringing things to market themselves, and it’s a great fit,” she said.

What makes it such a great fit? Part of its strategy to differentiate and compete is through flexibility and highly customizable packages and options.

“This week we announced new pricing models, so we really feel we have the most flexible Cloud pricing in the industry,” Wieck explained. “If you want to buy our software on-premise, up front, we can do that. You want to provide it from a monthly perspective, we can do that. You want to use it on a consumption basis … we can do that.”

Wieck doesn’t want to see cost become a barrier to adoption, especially in their fledgling open source community.

Integrating change into the big picture

Wieck also commented on the fact that even though innovation and iteration have sped up to unprecedented levels across the industry, it’s important to integrate change into the big picture of a company’s goals.

“We like to talk about multi-speed IT,” she stated. “You want those systems of engagement to be updated every day. But you’re not going to change your core transaction system. You’re not going to change your systems of record, nor do you want to, every day. You want stability. You want to make sure you’ve got the resilience to support those transactions, those customers, that engagement information, in a consistent way.”

Besides, Wieck said, “It’s not just the technology. You really need the people and the processes, and the support. So there really needs to be a mandate in the organization where we’re bridging business and IT and bringing that kind of sponsorship together. Then you can knock down all of these hurdles and really get rapid innovation. The technology is there. The ability to drive the connections is there. It’s really empowering the teams to do it.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM Edge2015.