IBM eyes $7 billion in revenue from cloud services

With cloud computing on the rise, IBM has set itself an ambitious target and will push for $7 billion in revenue from cloud computing by 2015. According to reports, The company is also geared up to set its data centre in Australia to serve the Asia-Pacific region. G Dharanibalan, Executive, Global Technology Services, IBM India/South Asia, said that cloud computing helps SMEs cut capital expenditure and increase productivity through greater collaboration. He added that a number of co-operative banks and engineering colleges have signed up for IBM’s cloud computing services. “Its data centre in Singapore is said to be a ‘public cloud’, where data from SMEs will be stored. Indian laws would apply to SMEs from India since the contracts would be inked in that country,” Dharanibalan said.

IBM eyes cloud services

Cloud computing is essentially making the provision and processing of storage a service. So, companies with elastic storage and processing requirements can save time and money invested in infrastructure. However, there are serious challenges to adoption of cloud technology. The International Data Corporation survey reveals that 21 percent of respondents find data security in cloud storage a major concern, 11 percent fear getting locked-in with a single cloud services provider, while nine percent of the respondents found stringent regulatory requirements a hassle. Nirupam Chaudhury, Research Manager, Software & Services, IDC, believes that increased cloud adoption would also require changes in channel sales.

The use of cloud storage and computing has been on a rise. Even the US Department of Defense has released a cloud computing strategy, saying it will move the department's current network applications from a cumbersome and costly set of application silos to an end-state designed to create a more agile and cost-effective service environment. “We are moving to an enterprise cloud environment that provides tangible benefits across the department by supporting the delivery of the joint information environment," said Teri Takai, Defense Department Chief Information Officer.

An increasing number of software and hardware providers have started providing cloud services. Cisco recently unveiled Cisco Connect Cloud, a software platform that simplifies how consumers connect, control and interact with their connected devices, including personal entertainment and home appliances. Oracle Corp launched a new suite of cloud-based products this June in a bid to try and catch up with smaller but nimbler vendors, such as Salesforce.com Inc, in the business of hosting and distributing software via the Internet. The business software corporation, which gets most of its revenue from selling software that companies install in their own data centers, included social monitoring and data mining services - both hot new areas of growth - in its cloud apps.