IBM pours $1.2 billion into expanding its cloud servcies

Dispelling any lingering doubt that IBM sees cloud computing as the way of the future, the company announced that it will invest US$1.2 billion this year in expanding its global cloud infrastructure. The company plans to open 15 new data centers this year, more than doubling the cloud capacity it acquired when it purchased SoftLayer last year for $2 billion.

IBM Corp said it will invest more than $1.2 billion to build up to 15 new data centers across five continents to expand its cloud services and reach new clients and markets. The new cloud centers will be in Washington D.C., Mexico City, Dallas, China, Hong Kong, London, Japan, India and Canada, with plans to expand in the Middle East and Africa in 2015. IBM said the investment will bring up its data center count to 40 this year and double cloud capacity for SoftLayer, which leases online storage space to companies and was acquired by IBM last year for $2 billion.