IBM Promotes and Invests in Its Cloud Computing Service

IBM recently announced major investments to promote and expand its one year-old public and private cloud computing service, known as Smart Cloud. It also announced statistics on the number of clients and users reportedly using the SmartCloud service, as well as the rate of growth it expects. A post on Wired’s Cloudline blog (which names IBM as its primary sponsor) describes the announcement as an extension of IBM’s “whatever you want” business philosophy towards its customers. The service appears to offer a one-stop shop for the full range of cloud services, and IBM certainly has a good reputation and proven track record in the computing industry. Cloud computing, of course, is still in its infancy by comparison to other computing sectors, and each business, organization, or individual still bears responsibility for the security of their own data regardless of the provider’s reputation. Any risk management plan that involves cloud computing should take the service provider’s track record into account, but should not rely too heavily on it.

IBM recently celebrated its one-hundredth birthday, having started in 1911. It developed many technologies that revolutionized the computing industry. Most notable of these, of course, is the IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the PC, which paved the way for every home computer since then. It also claims the title of the “original virtualization company,” pioneering technologies that create virtual computing systems. These were the foundation of cloud computing, at least according to some observers. IBM has developed its own cloud computing network alongside better-known software companies like Microsoft.

SmartCloud launched in April 2011 to some fanfare. It offers all of the familiar features of cloud computing, including the three levels of cloud services, software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS). IBM advertises that it works with individual customers to determine which type of service best fits the customer’s needs. Its services are much like those of other, more well-known cloud service providers. At the time of its launch, the technology blog GigaOM described SmartCloud as “nothing particularly groundbreaking,” but stressed that “that’s kind of the point.” IBM intended SmartCloud to be user-friendly and to draw upon the company’s vast institutional knowledge and experience. IBM’s longevity appears to be a major selling point of its cloud services.

In a May 17, 2012 press release, IBM announced the seemingly explosive growth of SmartCloud. It claims that around one million users currently work with SmartCloud’s enterprise applications, and that its cloud handles 4.5 million “daily client transactions.” The IBM Cloud also reportedly channeled over $100 billion in commercial transactions in its first year. It announced partnerships with various organizations to use SmartCloud to promote healthcare improvements in Haiti, and it also announced a collaboration with a major “open innovation community” in which 400,000 developers will use IBM’s cloud services. It listed multiple major corporations and other businesses that have either moved their cloud computing systems to IBM or have started new cloud systems.

Prism Risk Management provides businesses and organizations with risk and loss prevention consulting and offers services in loss control planning. To learn how our team can help your organization, contact us today online or at (512) 901-0070.

More Blog Posts:

U.S. National Security Laws May Be Driving Other Countries to Nationalize Cloud Computing, and It Could Put Your Data at Risk, Prism Risk Management Blog, May 7, 2012

Public Cloud Computing Has New Guidelines to Help Protect Users’ Privacy and Security, Prism Risk Management Blog, April 25, 2012

Federal Government Develops Definitions and Standards for Cloud Computing, Prism Risk Management Blog, April 18, 2012

Photo credit: ‘IBM Blue Gene P supercomputer’ by Argonne National Laboratory’s Flickr page [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.