Ibm Dismantles Internet Division

International Business Machines Corp. has begun dismantling a high-profile division formed just two years for coordinating Internet strategy, the company disclosed Friday.

IBM is reassigning the duties among the various IBM business units that make and sell the Internet products. The company hopes the move will streamline development and bring new technologies to market faster.

No timetable was set for extinguishing the division, which was created by chief executive Louis V. Gerstner to meet exploding demand for technology enabling companies and consumers to use the World Wide Web and private networks.

Two weeks ago IBM shifted 100 software developers - about one-fifth of the Raleigh, N.C.-based Internet division staff - to the company’s much larger software unit. The head of the team, Pat Sueltz, now reports directly to Steve Mills, who manages a software sub-unit focusing on corporate intranets, or closed versions of the Internet.