IBM’s January 2013 announcement expanded SmartCloud Enterprise+ (SCE+), its infrastructure-as-a-service cloud, and added a managed cloud service for SAP applications. The pitch was not simply to rent computing capacity: IBM said enterprises could run core business workloads with service-level assurances, migration and operations support, and choices about where data was hosted.
What IBM announced
In a January 29, 2013 report, Data Center Knowledge described IBM’s global expansion of SmartCloud Enterprise+ and the introduction of IBM SmartCloud for SAP Applications. SCE+ was live in Japan, Brazil, Canada, France, Australia, the United States, and Germany. IBM also announced a cloud center in Barcelona that it intended to make operational by mid-2013. Source: Data Center Knowledge, January 29, 2013.
IBM framed the move as an extension of its sourcing and services business into public cloud. Jim Comfort, then general manager of IBM SmartCloud Services, called it “a logical evolution of IBM’s sourcing business” that could give IBM an advantage in services relationships and the cloud market.
Which workloads could run on SmartCloud Enterprise+?
IBM described SCE+ as infrastructure for core enterprise applications, including ERP, CRM, analytics, social business, and mobile computing. Its intended audience was organizations that wanted cloud elasticity and subscription pricing alongside the operational assurance they associated with hosted IT.
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The announcement reported availability guarantees ranging from 98.5% to 99.9% for individual operating-system instances. These were IBM’s stated instance-level figures, not a universal guarantee for every application or customer configuration.
How IBM differentiated its cloud
IBM contrasted its service-oriented enterprise offer with public clouds characterized as “one size fits all” and purchased by credit card. The practical distinction was the combination IBM emphasized: workload coverage, service levels, data-location choice, migration assistance, and ongoing operational management.
| Decision point | IBM’s 2013 positioning |
|---|---|
| Workload coverage | Core applications such as ERP, CRM, analytics, social business, and mobile computing. |
| Availability | IBM stated 98.5%–99.9% availability for individual OS instances. |
| Data location | Regional choice across seven countries where SCE+ was live: Japan, Brazil, Canada, France, Australia, the United States, and Germany. |
| Migration | IBM Migration Services assessed workload suitability and used standardized, automation-assisted processes. |
| Operations | IBM said it managed patch updates and identity management. |
| SAP specialization | A separate globally available managed platform service covered SAP Business Suite and SAP BusinessObjects. |
These were positioning points from the 2013 announcement, not a present-day comparison of IBM services with other cloud providers.
Migration and day-to-day operations
IBM Migration Services were described as assessing whether workloads were suitable for cloud and then applying standardized, automation-assisted processes to move them. IBM also said its services managed patch updates and identity management, placing the offer closer to a supported enterprise environment than infrastructure handed over entirely to a customer’s own operations team.
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IBM stated that its migration services aimed for return on investment within six to 18 months. That was a target cited by IBM, not a reported outcome or guarantee for every migration.
What SmartCloud for SAP Applications offered
IBM SmartCloud for SAP Applications was announced as a globally available, fully managed platform-as-a-service for SAP Business Suite and SAP BusinessObjects. IBM said provisioning was automated and that certified staff supported the service. Customers could develop and test applications on the platform before moving them into production, making a test-to-production path part of the offer.
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SAP executive board member Dr. Vishal Sikka described the service as an extension of the companies’ long-standing work together, saying IBM’s SmartCloud platform and SAP business applications were intended to deliver value to clients worldwide. The announcement establishes the service’s stated scope and design, but not its current product name or availability.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who IBM pointed to as enterprise customers
IBM cited the Philips Smart TV platform, Summit Health, and Generalitat de Cataluña as customers or planned users. Those examples supported the company’s emphasis on outage-sensitive enterprise and government workloads. The announcement did not provide enough detail to treat them as a measured performance comparison.
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The reported growth figures explain IBM’s ambition at the time, not the current size or status of its cloud business. According to the 2013 announcement, IBM said its cloud revenue grew 80% in 2012, it served more than 9,000 enterprise cloud clients, and it expected $7 billion in cloud revenue by 2015. These are historical company figures and a forecast, respectively.
The article is useful as a record of IBM’s 2013 enterprise-cloud strategy: combine infrastructure, managed operations, migration help, geographic choice, and a dedicated SAP platform. It does not establish current IBM product names, present-day service availability, or pricing.
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