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IBM’s cloud computing services, grouped under the IBM SmartCloud portfolio, represents the Big Blue’s next generation of enterprise cloud technologies and services designed for private, public and hybrid clouds. It comprises a range of cloud technologies, process knowledge, global delivery center network, plus software, hardware and solutions.

As part of its cloud initiatives, IBM has to date invested in more than US$3 billion in its key cloud acquisitions, with the more recent ones include Cast Iron Systems (2010), Coremetrics (2010), Unica (2010), Sterling Commerce (2010) and Outblaze (2009). The earlier ones were Diligent Technologies (2008), Arsenal Digital (2007), WebDialogs(2007), Internet Security Systems (2006) and Think Dynamics (2003).

According to Paul Moung (pictured), vice president, cloud and smarter planet, IBM growth markets, IBM SmartCloud is driven by more than 200 IBM researchers focusing on cloud security and privacy; 11 IBM Cloud Development Labs located in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, South Korea, Japan, US, UK, Ireland, South Africa and Brazil; and six cloud data centers delivering IBM SmartCloud services, including one in Singapore.

In an interview with Asia Cloud Forum, Moung outlines IBM’s recent cloud computing deployments in five Asia Pacific markets, recent market initiatives in driving the adoption of open standards for cloud computing, and IBM’s three-pronged approach for marketing its cloud computing services in 2012.

Paul Moung: Over the last 12 months IBM has been working with a vast array of customers, and we have learned a lot about their goals, their plans and their needs when it comes to deploying cloud technologies. Here in Asia Pacific we worked with clients such as:

The China United Network Communications Corporation (China Unicom) provides cellular service in 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China. Prior to engaging with IBM, they were hitting a bottleneck at 15% CPU usage. Today, they run at a 60% CPU rate without experiencing infrastructure problems, whereas provisioning time has shortened from two weeks to 20 minutes.

Also, IBM was selected by the China National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which organizes, leads and coordinates statistical works across China and plays a key role in supporting decision-making in the country. Given the challenging nature of statistical works, data processing demands and required high computing ability of the NBS information systems, the NBS Data Management Center launched a strategy to build an IT platform with advanced cloud computing capabilities. The cloud computing system, based on IBM Power systems, ensures the smooth operation of two major NBS application systems -- the sixth national population census and the direct business information reporting. In particular, during the sixth national population census the new IBM system demonstrated a strong capability of coordination and computing as it took just two minutes to complete very complicated statistical forms for a group of 1.3 billion people, which would have taken a whole day or even longer, in the past.

Total Tel International (TTI), an Australia-based solution provider to telecommunications operators and payment service providers, selected IBM SmartCloud Enterprise to support its business expansion in Australia and abroad via the IBM cloud. TTI, a managed services software and professional services provider to telecommunications and financial services organizations, is planning to expand its electronic wallet services software offering through the adoption of the IBM cloud computing model. 

The Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) selected IBM to build a new data center based on the IBM CloudBurst solution to integrate all the data on Vietnam’s natural resource and environments. IBM's cloud computing technology will help the ministry address the issues caused by its previously fragmented IT infrastructure which included data centers scattered at a number of departments and provincial-level offices.

The Karnataka Vocational Training and Skills Development Corporation (KVTSDC) partnered with IBM to develop a Smarter Employability Platform to increase effectiveness of employment and skill-enhancement programmes in the state. Through this first-of-a-kind project with IBM Research -- India, KVTSDC will address the challenges of reaching millions of potentially employable individuals and empowering them, especially in rural areas and in the unorganized sector. Running on the IBM SmartCloud, the solution will also use IBM's Spoken Web technology. 

The National Pension Service, a government organization, has successfully completed its pilot project for cloud computing. IBM South Korea worked with the National Pension Service to build the pilot cloud computing system based on IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) and PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) as well as build the service portal. As part of the pilot project, IBM also provided the consulting service and designed the master plan for the organization's long term cloud computing strategy.