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Biggish Blue invests in cloudy internet of stuff

by on31 March 2015


Things ain't wot they used to be

The ever shrinking Big Blue has said it will invest $3 billion over the next four years in a new 'Internet of Things" unit, aiming to sell its expertise in gathering and making sense of the surge in real-time data that the Internet of Stuff will generate.

IBM said that it services will be based remotely in the cloud, and offer companies ways to make use of the new and multiplying sources of data such as building sensors, smartphones and home appliances to enhance their own products.

Big Blue announced that a unit of the Weather Co will move its weather data services onto IBM's cloud, so that customers can use the data in tandem with IBM's analytics tools. We don't know how using data on a tandem will help – still everything is mobile these days. Still no word on an internet of stuff for unicycles.

IBM is hoping that companies will be able to combine live weather forecasting with a range of business data, so companies can quickly adapt to customer buying patterns or supply chain issues connected to the weather.

IBM said it was already working with some large companies, such as German tire maker Continental and jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney to help them use its data in their processes.

Focusing on the cloud is part of IBM's gradual shift away from its traditional hardware and consulting business. The company is targeting $40 billion in annual revenue from the cloud, big data, security and other growth areas by 2018, which should be about 45 percent of its total revenue at that time, based on analysts' growth estimates.

Last modified on 31 March 2015
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