IBM will be unveiling a number of new cloud computing technologies at its CIO Leadership Exchange in Shanghai and its Pulse Conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday with networking giant and Cisco-rival Juniper Networks by its side. We reported last summer that Juniper is doing a good job of making inroads on Cisco’s turf, and this partnership with IBM is a sign of Juniper’s continued strength in the cloud computing sphere, an area where Cisco is also hoping to make its mark.
IBM, through its Blue Cloud Initiative, is rolling out a number of new cloud computing solutions for enterprise users, including joint Juniper Networks and IBM or businesses to install hybrid public-private cloud capabilities across IBM’s 13 “Cloud Labs” spread across the world. The companies have created technology that would allows enterprises to extend their private clouds to remote servers in a secure public cloud at the click of a button. Once the technology is installed in the Cloud Labs, businesses can easily switch clients workloads when resources become constrained.
With cloud computing possibly representing a $42 billion market by 2012, it comes of no surprise that IBM is making some pretty hefty investments in its Blue Cloud Initiative. And the software giant is also seeing some big-name enterprise clients sign onto its cloud computing offerings. Elizabeth Arden, Nexxara, The U.S. Golf Association and Indigo Bio Systems are all using IBM’s services to add cloud computing to their IT infrastructures. TOTVS, a ERP provider in Latin America, is expanding its existing IBM cloud computing system.
Erich Clementi, IBM’s general manager of enterprise initiatives, made this statement professing IBM’s love for cloud computing:
“Enterprise clients need economically compelling solutions that help run their business in smarter ways, while never taking their eyes off security, resiliency and compliance. Cloud computing leverages many of IBM’s core strengths-such as open standards, service management, scalable systems, and excellence in data center operations-and gives clients the opportunity to leverage cloud computing’s considerable cost advantages, while maintaining the highest levels of integrity, responsibility and control.”
IBM also unveiled several new capabilities and services that would help businesses incorporate and maintain cloud computing into their IT infrastructures. The company launched a strategic planning arm, a design implementation service, extra security services, and a service management center for cloud computing, using IBM’s Tivoli software, to help clients deploy and manage clouds.