The future is not in selling computers, but in selling computing power, with users connecting to a power grid similar to the electric grid that lets users purchase only the power they need, according to IBM.
John Kelly III, IBM's senior vice president and group executive explained the company's plan before the Government Technology Conference on Sept. 25.
Kelly outlined how technology has changed in the past four decades, from mainframes in the 1960s and 1970s to personal computers in the 1980s and 1990s. The focus shifted to networking in the late 1990s until today. But the next big change will be in nanotechnology, packing high computer power into small devices. He said he expected personal digital assistants to have more power than today's big super computers that run large businesses.
With that higher computing power, integrating computer systems will become even more important, he said. IBM has a plan that will allow businesses to focus more on customers and their core businesses and less on running their computer systems, he said.
The grid concept would allow people and businesses to network by plugging into the grid.
“Think of this as the marriage of the Internet and supercomputing,” Kelly said. “All computers will talk to each other and share resources. This is not just pie-in-the-sky. We're already working with countries like Great Britain and states like Pennsylvania to put in a large computer grid system.”
He said IBM will also model its pricing schedule after the utilities, too.
“Once you get this grid in place, you can start to think about buying computer power like you buy (electric) power,” he said. “Think of it like a power plant and you'll draw from that power plant as you need it.”
With users being able to tap into power, they won't have to beef up their computers or toss them for newer models, he said. And IBM will handle the integration of computer systems, too.
IBM is also designing computer systems that will work best on the new grid that Kelly described as autonomic. Autonomic is a biology term that refers to involuntary processes the body handles automatically, like a beating heart or blinking eyes. In the case of IBM's future computers, it will mean machines that manage themselves, correct internal defects and manage workloads. It will also handle security issues.
“This is the Holy Grail of computing,” Kelly said. “In a sense it's self aware of its own problems.”
He said system operators will be able to focus on business applications instead of networking issues.
“I view it as taking the shackles off people,” Kelly said.