For example, IBM is determined to make “on-demand” com-
puting the future of the hardware, software, networked, and hi-fi
environment. Sam Palmisano, chairman of the board and CEO of
IBM, has stated publicly that the company is moving into a place
where customers using its systems will have self-diagnosing, self-
healing, and self-remediating software and hardware systems. He
claims that many of these systems will be provided to customers by
outsourcing providers who will incur the infrastructure cost. These
providers will have state-of-the-art products and services, thus
diminishing the problems for customers of legacy systems and
future huge infrastructure capital investment. Of course, this
scenario will increase the role of the professional service providers
and systems integrators.
IBM has put its stake in the ground in this arena, but its position
does have a different twist from Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, who
stated a decade ago that it was the “network,” not the computer.
Why does IBM now call it “on-demand” computing? The con-
cept is that organizations will not need to invest in huge infrastruc-
ture capital expenses to acquire systems that become obsolete and
transition into “legacy” systems with wasted cost in both capital and
human resources. Rather, they will develop relationships with orga-
nizations, such as IBM and the systems integrators that they support,
for on-demand hardware and software combined with services.
Is this far-fetched? Not really. Look at it this way: artificial intel-
ligence, sensors, nanotechnology, and a variety of “self-learning”
systems mean that the concept of software that self-diagnoses, self-
heals, self-upgrades, and more is upon us. Smart software that works
with outsourced infrastructure providers, who have the ongoing
responsibility of being on the cutting edge of hardware and systems,
is already a concept that buyers have accepted as a quality choice.
When those services are partnered with the professional service
providers and systems integrators who tie the back and front ends
together, the scenario should end up like this; the buyer initiates
the need, and the need is anticipated and answered even beyond
the buyer’s expectations.
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