IBM's offers free software in cloud environment to IT start-ups

IBM today opened announced a new initiative to assist technology statr-ups its software portfolio through a cloud computing environment, including IBM industry frameworks to accelerate software development.

IBM said the new initiative aimed to help entrepreneurs capture emerging business opportunities in fast-growing industries such as energy and utilities, health care, telecommunications and government.

IBM announced the initiative to a gathering of 300 venture capital, business, government and academics at an IBM venture capital forum in Bangalore.

"Businesses around the world are increasingly applying new technologies to address industry-specific needs, and technology start-ups are looking for new ways to capitalise on this trend," said IBM's Claudia Fan Munce, vice president of corporate strategy and managing director of the IBM venture capital group. "IBM's goal is to help entrepreneurs gain the skills they need to bring new ideas to market faster using IBM technology to accelerate industry transformation and fuel innovation."

The IBM Global Entrepreneur initiative provides start-ups with no-charge access to industry-specific technologies in a cloud computing environment.

Under the new programme, IBM will provide access to its research community as well as sales, marketing and technical skills. IBM invests more than $6 billion per year in Research with more than 3,000 people in eight labs around the world. With more than 4,914 new patents in 2009 alone, IBM has experience bringing innovative technologies to market.

With its smarter planet strategy and years of investments in research, IBM will use its kills in building product and services offerings for businesses based on new ideas. IBM Industry Frameworks, for example, are software platforms targeted to industry specific market opportunities such as Smarter Water, Smarter Buildings and Smarter Health Care.