An Open Call for Cloud Computing Proposals by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and the announcement of a new IBM Cloud Laboratory are the latest developments which look set to further grow the cloud computing ecosystem in Singapore.

At the official opening of CloudAsia 2010 on 4 May 2010, RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay, Chief Executive Officer, IDA, noted that cloud computing represents a paradigm shift with compelling value drivers for its adoption by businesses.

“The adoption of cloud computing avoids upfront capital investment in IT hardware, reduces operational costs and most importantly, frees up staff and management talent,” he said.

RADM(NS) Ronnie Tay: The adoption of cloud computing frees up staff and management talent.

The savings gained from cloud computing are expected to be significant. Gartner sees costs for cloud storage services to be 10 times cheaper than on-premise modes; bandwidth connectivity costs reduced by 50 per cent; and processing costs lowered by one third. According to IDC, the global cloud computing market is projected to grow from US$17.4 billion to US$44.2 billion in 2013.

Call for Proposals
IDA’s latest initiative to leverage this paradigm and enhance the vibrancy and growth of Singapore’s infocomm sector is a call for proposals to undertake innovative cloud-based projects.

“We would like to support projects that will help to enable infocomm infrastructure development for iN2015 vertical clusters,” said RADM(NS) Tay, who announced the call in his opening address. “We would also support specific lighthouse projects that illustrate and promote the use of cloud computing.”

The call is open to all government agencies, institutes of higher learning, research institutes as well as private sector companies. Depending on the impact and scope of the project as well as the type of organisation involved, IDA will award either 50 or 100 per cent support in terms of the required compute and storage cloud resources which will be drawn from a selected National Grid Service Provider.

The call is part of IDA’s broader goal to promote Singapore as a regional or global hub for cloud service providers; to get technology companies to build cloud-related services; to enable software companies and infocomm end-user organisations transform their solutions with cloud technologies; to address manpower development issues; and to leverage the nation’s infocomm infrastructure including the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network.

“Cloud computing introduces immense business opportunities to Singapore,” said RADM(NS) Tay. “Local infocomm enterprises can leverage on Singapore’s strong infrastructure and trust environment to benefit from this paradigm shift.”

Cloud Laboratory
At CloudAsia 2010, IBM also announced a partnership with IDA to open a Cloud Computing Laboratory at Changi Business Park.

Mr Alan Ganek: The Cloud Lab in Singapore will help accelerate the adoption of cloud computing for all organisations to build a Smarter Singapore.

“The Cloud Lab in Singapore will help IDA realise their iN2015 master plan and accelerate the adoption of cloud computing for all organisations to build a smarter Singapore,” said Mr Alan Ganek, Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Strategy and Technology, Software Group, IBM.

The Lab will help businesses, government, research institutions, and institutes of higher learning to design and deploy their own cloud environments, and early adopters are likely from the key Singapore industries of banking, education, healthcare, government, and telecommunications.

“Investments such as IBM’s new Singapore-based Cloud Lab are critical in the still nascent cloud computing market, where both resources and support are needed to overcome the early scepticism, uncertainty and doubts that characterise this market,” said Mr Michael Barnes, Vice President of Software Research at Springboard Research, an IT market research organisation.