Data Backup Digest

2013 was a breakthrough year for cloud computing technology as a whole. As industry professionals begin to realize the value offered through this emerging technology, the use of cloud computing services has spread like wildfire. Never one to shy away from new technology, IBM is one of the industry frontrunners in the world of cloud computing for both consumers and small businesses, and it appears the team has huge plans for 2014.

IBM's Current State

While IBM is arguably one of the most notable and recognizable names in information technology, they have been kind of slow in their embrace of cloud computing technology. Although they have been able to stay afloat amongst their top competitors, nobody is considering them as a leader in cloud computing. After hearing their plans for the future, however, one might be led to believe otherwise.

Coming Announcements

According to Lance Crosby, chief executive of a cloud computing group that was purchased by IBM earlier in 2013, IBM has a series of announcements in store for the New Year. In fact, IBM is expected to invest over $1 billion in their network architecture in 2014. This amount of spending will undoubtedly put them on par with other cloud computing giants, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft. In fact, many believe the upcoming announcements from IBM may even set them over the top of their competition.

“It will take Amazon 10 years to build all of this,” Lance Crosby said. “People will be creating businesses with this that we can only dream about.”

Crosby was referring to more than 100 products that are expected to be released under the IBM cloud computing umbrella in 2014. While he could not delve into specifics, Mr. Crosby did state that a bevy of e-commerce and marketing applications will be implemented directly into IBM's cloud architecture, thereby making these services readily available to small and large businesses. Other infrastructure-oriented services, such as data analysis tools and mobile software, will also be integrated into the cloud.

According to Lance Crosby, IBM is also interested in selling its mainframe functionality via a cloud-based service. Crosby believes this fact, in tandem with their external contracts and licensing that is already in place throughout the industry, should be enough to attract plenty of new business.

If everything goes as planned, these assets are only expected to grow. Crosby cited existing partnerships with Microsoft and their Xbox console, IBM's participation in Google-based networks and IBM's acquisition of his own company, SoftLayer, as strong catalysts for future acquisitions.

“We make the processors in Google’s server racks,” Crosby continued. “We understand where gaming is going. Before I got here, I thought this was a big old tech company, too; I didn’t see all of the assets.”

Crosby continued by saying that IBM will begin to unveil their new cloud computing offerings in February. This gives business owners and enterprise leaders enough time to prepare for the New Year while still allowing IBM enough time to rollout plenty of new cloud-based services throughout the entire year.