IBM is adding Power Systems Linux services to its Innovation and Client Centers to help accelerate software development to meet the growing global demand for new kinds of applications that take advantage of IBM's POWER8 architecture. The expansion – a more than 10x increase in global reach – provides in-person and online access to Linux on Power Systems application development resources to potentially thousands of additional IBM Business Partners, developers, and clients worldwide in key regions including Brazil, Russia, India, Vietnam, Australia, United Kingdom and Germany.
With this initiative, IBM is tapping into its global network of over 50 IBM Innovation Centers and IBM Client Centers to help IBM Business Partners, IT professionals, academics, and entrepreneurs develop and deliver new big data and cloud computing software applications for clients using Linux on IBM Power Systems servers.
Last year, IBM committed $1 billion in new Linux and open source technologies for its Power Systems servers including the opening of five new Power Systems Linux Centers in Beijing, China; New York, New York; Austin, Texas; Montpelier, France; and Tokyo, Japan. Today, over 1,500 ISV applications are available for Linux on Power, fueled in part by work performed at these centers.
“Businesses are looking for the latest open server innovations to help them capitalize on big data and cloud computing. They want new technologies that can achieve this faster and more cost-effectively than the racks upon racks of commodity servers heating up their data centers today," said Doug Balog, General Manager, Power Systems, IBM Systems and Technology Group. "IBM's Power System technologies and Linux can meet these needs and provide innovators with an advanced architecture to create new kinds of software applications to help clients gain a competitive advantage." Read the announcement here.