IBM Introduces Three New Cloud Computing Packages
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At its analyst conference, IBM announced three more additions to its Project Blue Cloud bag of goodies: a new software infrastructure specifically aimed at the building of private cloud systems, an online information archive and -- you've guessed it -- a slew of new consulting services to go with both.
It took a little while for IBM to define its corporate approach to cloud computing during the last few years, but now that it has one, the world's largest IT company is going all out in the sector.
On Oct. 6 at its Information Infrastructure Analyst Summit in Boston,
the company introduced three more additions to its Project Blue
Cloud bag of goodies: a new software infrastructure specifically aimed
at the building of private cloud systems, an online information
archive and -- you've guessed it -- a slew of new consulting
services to go with both.
"This is really the next instance in the continuing drumbeat of IBM
delivering enterprise-ready cloud services," IBM Cloud CTO Kristof
Kloeckner told eWEEK. "We're putting a great deal of corporate time and
effort into this."
Cloud computing, or utility computing, serves up computing power, data
storage or applications from one data center location over a grid to
thousands or millions of users on a subscription basis. This general
kind of cloud-examples include the services provided online by Amazon
EC2, Google Apps and Salesforce.com-is known as a public cloud, because
any business or individual can subscribe.
Last June, IBM launched three cloud models:
IBM Smart Business Test Cloud, a private cloud behind the client's
firewall, with hardware, software and services supplied by IBM; Smart
Business Development & Test and Smart Business Application
Development & Test, which use Rational Software Delivery Services
on IBM's existing global cloud system; and IBM CloudBurst, a
preintegrated set of hardware, storage, virtualization and networking
options, with a built-in service management system.
The underpinnings of these are Tivoli Provisioning Manager 7.1 and the
new Tivoli Service Automation Manager, which automates the deployment
and management of computing clouds. The same foundations will power the
new packages.
"The intent of this private storage cloud offering is to serve
customers efficiently with their active, file-based data -- the term
would be near-line storage, meaning it's not direct-attached storage,
but not remote archival storage, either," Kloeckner said. "The
scenarios would include any information-rich enterprise that needs
frequently accessed data in a file format."
Chris Preimesberger was named Editor-in-Chief of Features & Analysis at eWEEK in November 2011. Previously he served eWEEK as Senior Writer, covering a range of IT sectors that include data center systems, cloud computing, storage, virtualization, green IT, e-discovery and IT governance. His blog, Storage Station, is considered a go-to information source. Chris won a national Folio Award for magazine writing in November 2011 for a cover story on Salesforce.com and CEO-founder Marc Benioff, and he has served as a judge for the SIIA Codie Awards since 2005. In previous IT journalism, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. His diverse resume also includes: sportswriter for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering NCAA and NBA basketball, television critic for the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and Sports Information Director at Stanford University. He has served as a correspondent for The Associated Press, covering Stanford and NCAA tournament basketball, since 1983. He has covered a number of major events, including the 1984 Democratic National Convention, a Presidential press conference at the White House in 1993, the Emmy Awards (three times), two Rose Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, several NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a Formula One Grand Prix auto race, a heavyweight boxing championship bout (Ali vs. Spinks, 1978), and the 1985 Super Bowl. A 1975 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Chris has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for his work. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four children and reside in Redwood City, Calif.Follow on Twitter: editingwhiz
