Microsoft and IBM break bread over hybrid cloud platforms

Longtime rivals IBM and Microsoft have extended the olive branch to one another, both figuratively and literally, over the cloud. The two companies have agreed to make aspects of each other's cloud technology compatible, retaining current developers and drawing in converts by providing access to both IBM and Microsoft's set of cloud platform tools. The move also acts as both a bid to stay competitive with Amazon Web Services. IT staff considering a Platform-as-a-Service solution now have a new contender to consider.

It takes two to rebound
While Microsoft has a bit of ground to cover if it wants Azure to overcome Amazon's platform, the company's cloud services are still faring better than IBM's, according to Data Center Dynamics. Microsoft's cloud revenues for the first quarter of 2014 were optimistic, but IBM's platform reported numbers that were $1 billion short of analysts expectations. Regardless of this financial imbalance, Microsoft seems convinced it will compete better with Amazon with access to IBM's middleware, and the company is willing to host Windows products on IBM's cloud if it means getting within striking distance.

Better together for the cloud
Regardless of the relationship between Microsoft and IBM, the two company's clients are certainly getting the most out of the bargain, according to Data Center Dynamics. First and foremost, the two client bases may soon have a chance to work directly with each other. For instance, Microsoft has a .NET runtime in the works for IBM's Bluemix that would allow .NET developers to design applications for IBM customers. Both companies will also recognize each other's software licenses, making it easy for IBM customers to access pay-per-use versions of Microsoft software and visa versa.

Tenuous dance partners
InformationWeek noted that though the two companies may be a natural fit for each other on paper, there is still an air of tension between the new partners. Both tech giants managed to release statements about the collaboration project without directly mentioning the other partner's platform, a conspicuous maneuver that suggests both sides of the partnership may be wary of committing too soon. Data center staff prioritizing long-term stability may want to put off investing in the new platform until the dust between IBM and Microsoft has settled. In lieu of gaining access to a new cloud platform, data center staff can expand their network with multiple additional access points by implementing remote console servers.

Perle's wide range of 1 to 48 port Perle Console Servers provide data center managers and network administrators with secure remote management of any device with a serial console port. Plus, they are the only truly fault tolerant Console Servers on the market with the advanced security functionality needed to easily perform secure remote data center management and out-of-band management of IT assets from anywhere in the world.