IBM gives Cloud Startups an Exit Strategy

IBM announced today a series of cloud computing related products and services. To be frank I didn't see anything particularly ground breaking in the announcement. It was what they didn't say I found most interesting. For me, what IBM actually announced today was that we now have a major acquisition partner for the various cloud computing startups being created. More simply, on the business plan page titled "exit strategy", you can now include IBM.

Part of this strategy can be seen in IBM's cloud benchmarking program which offers a Resilient Cloud logo which they describe as a confidence booster for enterprise customers who are interested in shifting services to the cloud but concerned about reliability. On the surface this program would appear to be a nice easy way for IBM to test out new cloud wares, acquiring the most promising startups before anyone else.

I certainly hope there is a secondary agenda, because on its own, IBM's Resilient Cloud logo is about as useful as lipstick on a pig.