The big, old-line enterprise IT vendors are now all-in, or close to it, with cloud computing. This may make things seem less exciting than a few years ago, when a flurry of startups were pushing the envelope and grabbing the headlines.
\nBut it’s a good thing for IT buyers, and not necessarily a bad thing for the smaller companies that are now doing partnership deals with the big dogs and occasionally been bought out by them.
\nIBM is a case in point, as it moves ahead with its SmartCloud Services strategy. The latest stats from Big Blue say there are now 1 million users of enterprise apps, more than $100 billion (with a nod to Dr. Evil) in revenue, and 4.5 million daily client transactions in the IBM Cloud.
\nForget all that early and some of that current talk about saving money. \u201cCloud is more than just about gaining efficiencies and cost savings, it’s about driving…fundamental innovation,\u201d according to Paul Loftus, general manager, IBM Global Technology Services.
\nThis no doubt comes to a relief to large-company IT execs, who really don’t need their bosses harping on them to save money save money save money every day. They need to create cloud infrastructures that are flexible, clever, and future-proof more than they need to focus exclusively on cost.
\nLots of Stuff Going On
\nOne recent development finds TopCoder, touted as \u201cthe world’s largest Open Innovation Community of digital creators,\u201d moving its global community of more than 400,000 developers to IBM SmartCloud Enterprise.
\nIBM has also said the beta period of its SmartCloud Application Services (SCAS) has finished, as it \u201cis expanding to a full pilot with new customers.\u201d The company says it’s added a range of new customers in health care, international development, retail, manufacturing, and academia.
\nAnd whither those exciting cloud companies of yore? IBM notes it’s added several of them as new ISVs and partners, including AppZero, Cloud Prime, Cohesive FT, Convertigo, Corent, Jaspersoft, NViso, SOASTA, Sproxil, SugarCRM, Vacava, Vision Solutions, and Zementis.<\/p>\n