SoftLayer Cloud Business Thriving Inside IBM - InformationWeek

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7/14/2014
09:55 AM
Charles Babcock
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SoftLayer Cloud Business Thriving Inside IBM

A year after it was acquired by IBM, SoftLayer gains SSDs, new data services, and expanded reach as IBM pursues its goal of 40 cloud centers by year's end.

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Charles Babcock is an editor-at-large for InformationWeek and author of Management Strategies for the Cloud Revolution, a McGraw-Hill book. He is the former editor-in-chief of Digital News, former software editor of Computerworld and former technology editor of Interactive ... View Full Bio

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TechYogJosh
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TechYogJosh,
 User Rank: Black Belt
7/16/2014 | 4:07:45 AM
Re: IBM SoftLayer may not compete head to head with Amazon
Not sure you say this because your fortune (or some part) is linked to praising IBM, but it will be interesting to know customers who are really loving IBM systems. And love out of sheer respect and not because they have no alternative or are scared of antagonizing the Big Blue. For sure, IBM systems do work for people, at least those systems which are high end or not available elsewhere. More so, IBM keeps selling because its entrenched in organization, not because it's loved. But then I understand technology is sold that way and not on respect/appreciation. As I said, I still believe IBM has one of the best technology offerings, but it's very poor in sales and support and just being humble. That is what has caused it lot of challenges and unless that is changed, nothing will.
Charlie Babcock
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Charlie Babcock,
 User Rank: Author
7/15/2014 | 4:49:14 PM
IBM SoftLayer may not compete head to head with Amazon
TechYogJosh, Many IT users have wanted to get out of a relationshp with IBM and have done so. Some have stayed with IBM because their IBM systems are doing useful work. You can make a blanket statement about what IBM customers want, if  you wish, but I tend to believe those who vote with their feet. I don't think SoftLayer and Amazon will compete head to head, exactly. The IBM cloud is going to look and feel more enterprise and legacy-system-oriented.
TechYogJosh
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TechYogJosh,
 User Rank: Black Belt
7/15/2014 | 2:41:41 AM
Unfortunate customers
It's a pity that customers who desperately want to get out of the morbid relationship with IBM, will still be forced to consume more of the same from the same dreaded Big Blue. I don't think problem is technology, IBM's problem is attitude and people. They just don't get customer management at all. No wonder the revenue is declining and the hatred is growing. May be SoftLayer can change some of this. It's a potent offering but of course IBM will be deluding itself in believing that it can compete with AWS. IBM should chart out its own course for cloud than competing with the unbelievable AWS and its support.
Charlie Babcock
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Charlie Babcock,
 User Rank: Author
7/14/2014 | 5:36:50 PM
Use a private network to get to cloud?
Don't discount the value of SoftLayer's private network, able to carry workloads on their way to the cloud . Amazon was slow to understand the significance of companies wanting to move data between cloud data centers. (Why would you want to do that when we offer multiple aviailability zones? Answer, disaster recovery, data survivability.) AWS now offers the Direct Connect option. Also SoftLayer was built to provide a uniform infrastructure for a young business with the potential to go global.  
Lorna Garey
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Lorna Garey,
 User Rank: Author
7/14/2014 | 4:51:29 PM
Re: IBM customers will be hungry for legacy services
Very true, in fact, this is suggested by the cloud ROI survey, that enterprise-class costs more, whether you're in the cloud or not.
Charlie Babcock
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Charlie Babcock,
 User Rank: Author
7/14/2014 | 1:54:18 PM
IBM customers will be hungry for legacy services
That will bear watching, Lorna. I suspect IBM will always have enough data movement, data management and private line access services that results in its ending up charging more than commodity service providers. That will be by design of course, plus legacy system users will find Tivoli and other IBM software available to them inside SoftLayer, now available as SaaS. IBM customers are moving to the cloud, but they're still using IBM products in the cloud. Hard to run legacy systems, otherwise.
Lorna Garey
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Lorna Garey,
 User Rank: Author
7/14/2014 | 11:29:03 AM
IBM value add
Charlie, It seems clear that businesses like the idea of an IaaS provider backed by the enterprise IT chops of IBM. If SoftLayer can stay in the ballpark with Amazon and Google on pricing, I see no reason it won't be a serious challenger -- but that's the million-dollar question, right? Will it stay in that how-low-can-we-go race?
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