IBM Puts $1B into Linux, Opens Power Systems Linux Center in France

IBM (News - Alert) will invest $1 billion in Linux and open source technology for IBM's Power System servers. The resulting technology can be used for big data, cloud, data analytics, and data center customers.

Because of the investment, IBM also opened a Power Systems Linux Center in Montpellier, France. The center lets software developers build and deploy apps for big data, cloud, mobile and social business using Linux and IBM POWER7+ processor technology. 

There are similar centers in Beijing and in the United States.

“The investment aims to help clients capitalize on big data and cloud computing with modern systems built to handle the new wave of applications coming to the data center in the post-PC era,” IBM said in a statement.

The $1 billion investment was announced this week by IBM vice president of Power Development Brad McCredie at the Linux Foundation's (News - Alert) LinuxCon conference in New Orleans.

The money will be used for design, development, ecosystem skills, go-to-market programs, and product research, the company said.

"Many companies are struggling to manage big data and cloud computing using commodity servers based on decades-old, PC era technology. These servers are quickly overrun by data which triggers the purchase of more servers, creating un-sustainable server sprawl," McCredie said.  "The era of big data calls for a new approach to IT systems; one that is open, customizable, and designed from the ground up to handle big data and cloud workloads."

In addition, Jim Zemlin (News - Alert), executive director of the Linux Foundation, noted that "the last time IBM committed $1 billion to Linux, it helped start a flurry of innovation that has never slowed. IBM's continued investments in Linux for Power Systems is welcomed by the Linux community.  We look forward to seeing how the Power platform can bring about further innovation on Linux, and how companies and developers can work together to get the most out of this open architecture."

In fact, CIO Today predicted in a report, that if the $1 billion investment does what the 2000 Linux investment made by IBM on mainframes did, “it would also effectively shut the door to Microsoft (News - Alert) in many lucrative, high-end markets,” according to Charles King, an analyst at Pund-IT.

"I doubt Microsoft is directly concerned about this effort but it does underscore one of the company's biggest problems -- that despite the commercial market leadership position of Windows Server, its presence in cloud and hyperscale data centers outside Microsoft's own Azure is miniscule,” King said.

King adds that IBM's Power Systems are “well suited to the cloud and big data applications” and the new investment will likely boost the market for Power solutions, the report said.