Data Backup Digest

Given the variety of cloud architecture already seen in the industry thus far, it's easy to see how one can lose focus on a single strategy. Moreover, organizations that spread their resources too thin are prone may not be able to provide a comprehensive cloud computing platform whatsoever. To this extent, IBM has recently pledged to renew their commitment to the hybrid cloud model. Their recent plan, which was unveiled at the latest InterConnect seminar in Las Vegas, involves a number of tactics meant to bolster the accessibility, continuity and efficiency of hybrid cloud services.

Angel Diaz, vice president of standards and open technology with IBM, was quoted as saying: "This is a big deal. People are trying to make a diversity of clouds behave as one, with applications that bring together the best of breed from lots of suppliers. They want services from us, our partners and competitors to work together."

The announcement also put a solid price tag on IBM's recent endeavors. As listed, the organization will be investing approximately $1.2 billion into their new hybrid cloud initiative. Such an investment is expected to propel IBM to a spot as one of the top players in the 21st century cloud computing game.

Software Upgrades

IBM went into specific detail about some of their future plans regarding the hybrid cloud framework during the February conference in Las Vegas. Software and firmware upgrades including new software containers, which aide in the deployment of applications across multiple networked computers, and additional quality and security protocols are also in place.

Furthermore, a series of tools meant to transfer data between public and corporate systems have been made available as well. Primarily integrated as Bluemix resources, these new features offer text and speech recognition as well as image processing capabilities.

Brand New Data Centers

In order to support such new functionality, however, IBM had to expand their infrastructure. This was done by establishing new cloud-based data centers throughout the world, including locations in Australia, Quebec, Italy and India. All of the aforementioned locales are expected to host their own data centers by the end of 2015.

Staying Competitive

There is another motivating factor behind IBM's recent announcements: they need to stay competitive. With other industry leaders offering new and improved services at a consistent rate, including Microsoft, Google, Hewlett-Packard, EMC and Amazon Web Services, IBM has little choice but to strengthen their own services in the way of the hybrid cloud framework.
In fact, both HP and EMC have recently unveiled their own plans of move forward in the cloud-centric, data-driven environment that is 21st century computing.

The Hybrid Cloud: Is it the Way of the Future?

Some industry experts are already embracing hybrid cloud platforms as the gateway to migrating the entire computing experience to a cloud-based architecture. While these experts do not exactly agree on the timeline of such a transition - with estimates ranging from 10 to 20 years or even longer - they're collective enthusiasm regarding hybrid cloud computing is enough to take notice.