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With business customers and software vendors going ga-ga over the cloud, IBM is planning to continue beefing up its own strength in the area with a plan that includes at least some acquisitions in the not-too-distant future.
That seems like a reasonable strategy considering the projected growth for cloud computing applications, services, storage and servers and the payoff that Big Blue says enterprises are already seeing from early cloud projects. For instance, IBM cited efforts at deploying a cloud-based testing infrastructure for enterprise developers that paid for itself within four months.
Datamation takes a look at IBM’s vision of what’s ahead for the cloud, both in terms of the benefits it can deliver to enterprises across a variety of industries, and in how IBM aims to establish itself as the go-to vendor for the tools needed to deliver those benefits.
NEW YORK — IBM ended its 2009 fiscal year with over $14 billion cash on hand, and at least some of that will be spent on beefing up its ability to deliver enterprise cloud computing solutions and services.
The company expects cloud computing to add $3 billion in net revenue by 2015, according to Walt Braeger, IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) vice president of cloud computing. It won’t get there without acquisitions, but don’t expect the cash to be spent on a single, game-changing acquisition like IBM’s purchase of Cognos for $5 billion back in 2007.