IBM unveils 'cloud validation' to harden security and lower TCO

After last month's launch of a set of cloud development tools, IBM this week rolled out new global "cloud validation" and consulting services for its cloud computing program, two new customers, and a cloud computing platform for China.

IBM this week bolstered its emerging cloud computing program with new business-oriented consulting services for enterprises, a validation program for third-party cloud providers, new cloud customers and partners, and Project Yun, a cloud computing platform for China.

"Businesses want to understand and get clarity on what cloud computing is, how to do cloud computing, and how to get value from it," contended Brian Reagan, director of IBM's Business Continuity & Resiliency Services (BCRS), in an interview with BetaNews.

The global consulting services announced this week will "serve as the basis for the customers' technology roadmaps," according to Reagan.

Last month, IBM rolled out new cloud development services that included a Web-based collaboration service dubbed "Bluehouse." In addition, the three new consulting services announced this week are as follows: Business Consulting Services for Cloud Computing; Cloud Security; and Technology Consulting, Design and Implementation Services.

The Business Consulting Services will use an economic model for determining the total cost of ownership (TCO) for building private, off-site or "public," and mixed or "hybrid" clouds.

"Cloud computing is about business, ultimately," according to Reagan. Even in today's tough economy, businesses are interested in seeing how cloud computing can help to drive their businesses forward, according to the BCRS director.

IBM's Business Consulting Services for Cloud Computing can help them do so at "the best cost performance point," he told BetaNews.

The technology consulting service, on the other hand, can help find answers to questions such as "what data to put in the cloud, and what you might want to leave out." The answer can vary tremendously, according to how the customer wants to use the cloud.

But some organizations still hold a "buyer beware" attitude about cloud computing, Reagan acknowledged. "We still have a way to go," BetaNews was told. Cloud services are still new, and they're being offered by a wide range of companies.

IBM's new "Resilient Cloud Validation" will allow third-party providers to earn the IBM "Resilient Cloud" logo after passing a program of benchmarking and design validation with IBM.

Reagan predicted that organizations will feel more comfortable in working with providers who carry the "Resilient Cloud" logo. "IBM has forty years of experience that we're bringing to bear in this program," Reagan maintained. "We can pass along that feeling of being 'trusted.'"

AllScripts, an SaaS provider for doctors and other healthcare professionals, will be the first to embark on IBM's validation process.

Also this week, IBM announced two new cloud customers: Neighborhood Centers, a nonprofit human services organization serving 200,000 residents of southwest Texas; and Fu Jing Department Store, a retailer servicing more than 10 million people in China daily.

Fu Jing is using "Project Yun," a new cloud computing platform created by IBM's China Research Lab, to allocate storage, server and network resources with "zero human input," said IBM's Reagan.