IBM Steps Up Cloud Offering With Lotus
01 Avril 2009 - 3:05AM
Dow Jones News
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) Tuesday stepped up
its cloud-based software offering, launching a suite of contact
management and instant messaging services for businesses, which can
be accessed via the cloud.
The services build on IBM's existing Lotus Live product, an
online version of its Lotus Notes collaboration tool, and are
accessed on a subscription basis.
Cloud computing, an ill-defined term for a group of products and
services which enable computing to move off companies' premises and
onto data centers owned by technology companies, accessed via the
Internet, is seen as a core growth area for the industry. IT
research firm Gartner estimated last week that revenue from cloud
services will grow to $150 billion by 2013.
IBM said it will charge companies between $10 and $45 per user
per month for the software suite, which it will host at its own
data centers and deliver via the Internet. The services are
expected to go live on April 7.
IBM's attempts to lead a coalition aimed at more closely
defining cloud computing and setting ground rules backfired this
week after several major companies declined to join its alliance.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) declined to sign
up to an IBM-led "open cloud manifesto", claiming there wasn't
enough transparency in the drafting of the document, and that it
was too early to set standards for cloud computing.
IBM has much to gain from winning a leading role in cloud
computing, as it can offer everything from the hardware used to
create data centers to the online software.
-By Jessica Hodgson; Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6455;
jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com