It's not often that we cover technical patents here, but I thought this one was worthy of note. IBM has filed for a patent that helps identify and manage where data resides in the cloud, whether it be public or private cloud. The obvious purpose of this technology is to enable compliance with various regulations regarding data residency and access. The patent, officially called U.S. patent #8,676,593 – "allows users to dynamically choose or change the location where cloud data resides, ensuring that businesses adhere to local or regional compliance and security regulations."
“During the early years of cloud computing, it was evident that storing and accessing business data across geographically dispersed cloud computing environments could present logistical and regulatory challenges,” said Sandeep Ramesh Patil, co-inventor of patent #8,676,593. “Our team of inventors designed a system that will allow businesses to efficiently manage and move data in the cloud, while meeting required compliance mandates in different countries.”
Analysis
Why this is exciting to me is that IBM is obviously investing in cloud computing. The SoftLayer and many other acquisitions are proof of this. This patent, however, underscores the importance of private cloud, not just to IBM, but to organizations everywhere who are desperately wanting to embrace the benefits of cloud, yet still want to know where their data is and who is touching it.
How IBM will use this technology is still unknown. The mere fact that the company is trying to enable greater privacy and transparency in cloud computing is worth mention. Even in a blog.
