Fujitsu to Create Cloud Computing Ecosystem

Fujitsu today announced an expansion of its cloud computing services beyond the business process management application it already offers. The new services include a full suite of services, ranging from providing basic access to compute horsepower to managing entire application deployments.

According to Daniel Lawson, Fujitsu America senior director for solution offerings and architecture, the company hopes to create ecosystems around various sets of applications that will target specific vertical markets. The first two software vendors to sign up for the Fujitsu program are Intershop Communications, a provider of e-commerce software, and CoolRock Software, which provides an application for archiving electronic mail.

Here's a overview of the concept:

The goal, said Lawson, is to create an environment where IT organizations will want to host their applications alongside commercial applications they already rely on. This will foster greater integration between commercial and home-grown applications, he said.

In addition to making this service available in early 2010 when a new data center facility is completed, Fujitsu is campaigning for support for a new cloud API that it has submitted to the Open Cloud Standards Incubator forum set up by the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF).

Lawson said the ability for customers to leverage federated cloud computing models offered by multiple vendors will be crucial in terms of fostering widespread adoption of cloud computing services. In addition, as customers build out their own internal cloud computing environments, they will need a standard way to integrate with a variety of public cloud computing services.