Cloud Computing Strategies for the CIOIBM signs "cloud computing" deal with USAF, indulges in Oracle-isms
IBM may have taken a page from Oracle's "sour grapes" playbook when it announced a cloud computing project with the United States Air Force (USAF).
We are thinking that IBM has studied the actions of Larry Ellison, database vendor, who indulged in several famous tirades after getting blindsided by the advent of cheap consumable computing. IBM's announcement is heavy on happy and light on the details, but it seems to be more of a high-octane business management and analytics solution than a cloud computing platform per se.
The IBM project doesn't seem to include self-service servers, on-demand scale, a sturdy virtual programming platform or software services that could replace appliances. So no IaaS, PaaS or SaaS -- instead, "customized executive-level dashboards will be used to deliver
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up-to-the-second information on the health and status of the network and facilitate decision-making," according to IBM. The company also promises that stream computing will "enable the Air Force to perpetually analyze the massive streams of data flowing through its network."
This all sounds fascinating, but it is a far cry from actual government clouds, like the DoD's DISA cloud or NASA's Nebula project, that actually fit the definition. Maybe there's more that we're not aware of, but cloud computing? Let's not ask Larry his opinion…
The Carphone Warehouse to start weird English version of MobileMe
Online storage firm Spare Backup and UK consumer widget store The Carphone Warehouse have apparently decided that Apple might be on to something. The companies have launched My Hub, a backup service for customers that will store their phone data, personal junk and music on the Internet, presumably in perpetuity or until you forget to pay the bill.
That's interesting because, unlike Apple, Carphone Warehouse sells lots and lots of different kinds of phones, and the advent of a vendor-independent service might actually work out this time around. Apple's epic lock-in to services like MobileMe is nice if you're a Macophile, but it's less nice if you might actually want to switch gadgets or platforms now and again.
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