SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - IBM on Tuesday went deeper into cloud computing, expanding offerings aimed at businesses interested in taking advantage of software managed online as services.
US-based IBM announced new products, partnerships and clients for a Blue Cloud Initiative it launched slightly more than a year ago.
"Enterprise clients need economically compelling solutions that help them run their businesses in smarter ways, while never taking their eyes off of security, resiliency and compliance," said IBM enterprise initiatives general manager Erich Clementi.
"Cloud computing leverages many of IBM's core strength ... and gives clients the opportunity to leverage cloud computing's considerable cost advantages, while maintaining the highest levels of integrity, responsibility and control."
Industry-tracker IDC projects that the cloud computing market will grow to 42 billion dollars in the next three years.
Cloud computing refers to computer applications or data storage offered online as services hosted online by technology firms instead of being installed and maintained on users' machines.
The economic meltdown is being credited with fueling a shift to cloud computing because it lets businesses cut costs by essentially renting networks instead of having to buy them.
New cloud computing customers announced by IBM included Elizabeth Arden, Indigo Bio Systems, Nexxera, and the US Golf Association.
IBM said it is offering Global Services data protection software as a service "through the cloud" as well as providing businesses online arenas to safely test applications.
IBM also unveiled an "overflow cloud" that can act as a computing safety net in instances when business networks are overwhelmed.
"Enterprises are now facing a breaking point with their IT systems," IBM said in a release.
"Some systems can't share information and workloads, servers are highly underutilized and the cost of energy is becoming greater than the value of the systems the energy powers. Cloud computing changes these economics dramatically."