[email protected] (zMan) writes: > Feh. These numbers are meaningless--probably includes the salaries of every > IBMer involved plus his/her dog. > > And I thought Linux was the answer for IBM? Are they replacing those > multi-$B Linux data centers now? Yes, I realize the Cloud could be built on > Linux, and that it could also be parallel -- my point is, again, that these > numbers are meaningless in isolation. The semiotics are really "IBM thinks > Cloud is important, film at 11".
Ailing IBM looks to the cloud for salvation http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/analysis/2322936/ailing-ibm-looks-to-the-cloud-for-salvation IBM Earnings: What's Next for Big Blue? http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/19/ibm-earnings-whats-next-for-big-blue/ Cloud Computing Seen Cutting 2014 IT Industry Sales http://news.investors.com/technology/112113-680141-barclays-2014-outlook-cloud-slows-information-technology-growth.htm some of this may also be PR offsetting some other news on IBM spending: Stockman in "The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America" pg464/loc9995-10000: IBM was not the born-again growth machine trumpeted by the mob of Wall Street momo traders. It was actually a stock buyback contraption on steroids. During the five years ending in fiscal 2011, the company spent a staggering $67 billion repurchasing its own shares, a figure that was equal to 100 percent of its net income. pg465/10014-17: Total shareholder distributions, including dividends, amounted to $82 billion, or 122 percent, of net income over this five-year period. Likewise, during the last five years IBM spent less on capital investment than its depreciation and amortization charges, and also shrank its constant dollar spending for research and development by nearly 2 percent annually. ... snip ... note the $1.2B compares with google spending over $2B per quarter on cloud datacenters http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2013/12/02/in-iowa-a-field-becomes-a-huge-google-server-farm/ other cloud operators are investing similar amounts. One of the long-time issues is that the large cloud operators have claimed they have been assembling their own servers for 1/3rd of the price from brand named vendors (aka they view the servers as cost/expense as opposed to profit) ... and server chip manufacturers saying they now ship more chips directly to cloud operators than to brand name vendors (all of which putting lots of downward price pressure on x86 servers). and this came up last year in stories about IBM trying to sell off its x86 server business ... and just recently resurfaced: IBM resurrects plans to sell low-end server business http://www.zdnet.com/ibm-resurrects-plans-to-sell-low-end-server-business-7000025344/ Dell in talks with IBM to buy Big Blue's x86 server business; After talks with Lenovo broke down last spring, IBM tries again. http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/01/dell-in-talks-with-ibm-to-buy-big-blues-x86-server-business/ Rumor was that Dell was one of the vendors possibly doing large volume low margin server assemblies for cloud customers. IBM Revives Effort to Sell Low-End Server Business; Dell Among Those Interested in Acquiring Business With Thinner Margins http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304757004579331232169084684 -- virtualization experience starting Jan1968, online at home since Mar1970 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
