IBM announced Thursday it is establishing its first cloud computing lab in Hong Kong.
The new facility, located in Hong Kong's Cyberport complex, will provide a global hub for Web-based messaging services to support IBM's LotusLive.com cloud service portfolio, said Big Blue.
According to the vendor, LotusLive.com is designed to help businesses work smarter by forming virtual communities in the cloud, connecting colleagues, partners, suppliers and customers from within and beyond their own firewalls, said IBM.
The new facility in Hong Kong brings the number of IBM's worldwide Cloud Labs to 10, said the company. IBM Cloud Labs provide a range of services including development of online services that take advantage of the promised economies of scale offered by cloud computing, the firm added.
“We are happy to note that IBM, one of the world-renowned leaders in innovation and computing, is taking the lead in establishing a cloud computing laboratory in Hong Kong,” said Stephen Mak, Acting Hong Kong Government Chief Information Officer. “The new IBM laboratory marks a milestone in Hong Kong's information technology industry as it has the potential to help businesses jump-start their cloud computing projects and enhance their computing capabilities to compete in the global marketplace.”
Strategically located near emerging growth markets, IBM intends to increase its investment in this center to take advantage of the global opportunity for online web 2.0 collaboration, said Big Blue.
Acquisition of HK firm closed
IBM also announced the closing of the acquisition of messaging assets of Hong Kong-headquarted Outblaze. Privately-held Outblaze operates an online service platform for the provision of secure, private-label email, collaboration and social media services to other service providers, telecommunications operators, corporations, academia, media and publishing companies. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed.
The Outblaze asset adds Web-based email to IBM's portfolio of online collaboration tools, said IBM. Subscribers will be able to instantly provision email accounts and users can access their e-mail from any computer through any Web browser, Big Blue added.
“IBM is focused on helping businesses, large and small, work smarter to drive innovation up and costs down and this new cloud lab will reinforce that,” said Bob Picciano, general manager, IBM Lotus Software. “LotusLive.com will soon include the most secure, scalable, business-ready Web mail in the industry as part of a full-service collaboration suite to help simplify and improve the way organizations work with their customers and partners.”
