IBM will look to open up its internal Research Compute Cloud to the public as an Amazon EC2 service clone.

The Compute Cloud is currently an internal testbed that sits within the IBM Research unit.

It acts as a pooled resource that internal IBM departments can access for their own projects via a self-service portal.

IBM Fellow for Server Design, Jim Rymarczyk, told iTnews that Big Blue is getting so much interest in cloud computing services from customers that it is looking to take its Research Compute Cloud public to meet the demand. (Click here for full interview transcript.)

“There’s potential for this [the Research Compute Cloud] to be made available in the marketplace, whether as a service or some kind of product,” revealed Rymarczyk.

“We can see customer interest in having this kind of capability.”

The IBM Research Compute Cloud was launched to combat the under utilisation of data centre resources internally.

Departments purchased IT equipment that was optimised for individual projects, but often went unused once the project was complete.

The Compute Cluster pools these departmental resources together. It uses Tivoli management software to assist with monitoring, sharing and provisioning.

Departments can access the service through a self-service Internet portal.

Rymarczyk said IBM also plans to make the service more widely available internally than for research purposes.

“Cloud computing is going to be to grid computing what the Web was to the Internet,” said Rymarczyk.

“Ultimately, it’s going to be a successful and important phase in the evolution of the Internet.”