It’s a birthday few companies ever have — IBM (NYSE:IBM) turns 100 this week.  Of course, other companies like Proctor & Gamble (NYSE:PG) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) have achieved the same milestone.  But they sell consumer staples.  How many tech companies can survive a century?

Then again, IBM has been able to seize enormous opportunities and build great products and services.  For example, in 1937 the company used its tabulating machines to maintain the records for the Social Security Act.  Other major developments included the Sabre airline reservation system and key technologies for the NASA space program.

However, during the early 1990s, IBM suffered substantial losses and was losing ground against upstarts like Oracle

(Nasdaq:ORCL), Sun Microsystems and Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT).  But the company was able to transform itself and remain a worldwide leader.

Now IBM generates about $100 billion in revenue and $19 billion in profit.  And the stock price has been particularly strong.  Over the past five years, the average annual return has been 17.4%.

But what about the future?  Can IBM be a company that investors can count on for the next 100 years?

I think so.  Few companies have the global scale and massive customer base of IBM.  It also has been smart with its acquisitions, with a focus on software for business intelligence, middleware and analytics.

IBM is poised to benefit from two mega-trends in technology.  One is the move toward the so-called cloud — accessing business applications via the Internet.  But to pull this off, there needs to be sophisticated infrastructures.  This certainly fits with IBM’s capabilities.

Next, the cloud will mean that there will be huge amounts of data collection.  But how will companies be able to interpret this?  Again, IBM is building the systems for data mining.  After all, its grand vision is the “smarter planet.”

With the “doom and gloom” lately, it’s good to be reminded about companies like IBM.  Over the long haul, they can ultimately thrive in any environment – making for solid investment opportunities.

Tom Taulli’s latest book is “All About Short Selling” and he has an upcoming book called “All About Commodities.”  You can find him at Twitter account @ttaulli.  He does not own a position in any of the stocks named here.