IBM filed a lawsuit against its former director of information technology Jeff Smith (Jeff Smith) and through the court trying to prevent him from starting work with a competing cloud service provider Amazon Web Services (AWS), reports CRN.

In a complaint sent to the federal court of New York in early August, IBM accuses Smith that he violated the clause in his employment agreement prohibiting subsequent employment with a competitor. The corporation notes that the former employee is known for valuable information on the emerging cloud technologies in IBM next generation, and therefore fear that Smith will give information when moving to work in AWS.

Smith left IBM in May 2017 among a few dozen top managers. According to IBM, its former CIO plans to become vice president of Amazon Web Services and will report directly to the AWS chapter of Andy Jassy,. Also in the claim it is claimed that while still working at IBM, Smith began to conduct secret talks with the head of AWS. To cover up tracks, the top manager subsequently erased all the data from his corporate mobile devices, states IBM.

"Blue Giant" demands that the court forbade the former employee to move to a new place of work in AWS until May 2018. IBM also wants Smith to return shares worth about $ 1.

7 million, which he received from the corporation at the end of 2016.

Judge Cathy Seibel, who examines the case, initially banned Jeff Smith from joining AWS before completing the proceedings, but then relaxed the restriction and allowed her to work in Amazon Web Services "in internship mode", that is, without the right to advise clients, To recruit former colleagues and disclose confidential information of the former employer.

The hearing is scheduled in two weeks, on August 21, reports Westfair Online.