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IBM Adjusts Software Licensing Terms to Support Hybrid Cloud Environments

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IBM Adjusts Software Licensing Terms to Support Hybrid Cloud Environments

May 14, 2015
By Clayton Hamshar, Contributing Writer

IT operations are increasingly being run on virtual machines and in the cloud, which has had substantial repercussions on the applicability of traditional software license agreements. For a long time software providers have limited the use of their products to a single machine, but as the physical hardware that software runs on becomes further detached from the user’s location it quickly becomes impossible to limit operations in this way. One of the main benefits of virtualization is that servers in the data center can be shifted around and reallocated to best serve the needs of that facility, and traditional software license agreements lack a way of effectively dealing with that.


As a result, many companies have updated their terms to allow users to move their software among machines regardless of if they are cloud-based, on-premises or in a hybrid cloud environment. This is an indispensable capability especially considering the rise of cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (News - Alert), which are often used in conjunction with on-premises hardware.

Tech giant IBM is the latest to join the list of companies that have altered their license agreements in recognition of the hybrid cloud trend, announcing: “Clients can freely move monthly licenses between on-premises and public and private clouds as needed including on IBM (News - Alert) SoftLayer and third party clouds.” The IBM PureApplication Service on Softlayer will allow existing enterprise applications to be cloud-enabled and deployed into on-premises and hybrid cloud environments with ease. Furthermore, the company plans to launch a self-service portal that will allow clients to manage their software infrastructure and deployments with ease.

This fix for IBM’s licensing terms comes a little late considering the substantial and growing adoption of hybrid cloud computing environments as well as the number of competitors that have already made similar adjustments. However, the company is notorious for its ironclad licensing terms and continued efforts to milk clients out of extra money, so this is a welcome step in the right direction that actually gives clients more freedom with their software. Since almost all of these companies are paying for the software as well as the machines (or virtual machines) it runs on, this freedom should be a given. 

Nevertheless, IBM has demonstrated a clear focus on encouraging hybrid cloud environments, simultaneously announcing a range of new servers as well as storage software and solutions. The new offerings — which include Power Systems, Spectrum (News - Alert) Storage, z Systems and Big Data storage solutions — address the needs for openness, dynamic data management, integration, automation and scalable performance that is created by hybrid cloud computing across all technologies.

Surely the company will continue in this direction and develop new products specially designed for hybrid cloud environments. Thanks to the adjusted software license agreements, clients will now be able to take full advantage of them. 




Edited by Maurice Nagle

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