UBS, JPMorgan, BMW Demand Cloud-Computing Equipment Standards

UBS AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Lockheed Martin Corp. are among more than 70 companies demanding that computer-equipment makers change the way they make their machines or risk losing business.

The group, which purchases more than $50 billion of technology annually, says incompatible systems are holding back the spread of cloud computing -- the concept of delivering information and computing power over the Internet from far-flung data centers. The Open Data Center Alliance, which will be announced today at an event hosted by chipmaker Intel Corp., aims to set requirements that will be adopted by the industry.

“The old way just won’t work anymore,” said Andrew Feig, an executive director at UBS, the biggest Swiss bank. “We want to pay for what we need, when we need it.”

Companies like UBS are looking to build data centers with computers, software and networking equipment from multiple suppliers. They don’t want to spend time and money integrating and managing it or be tied to one company’s products, Feig said. They also want to be able to use online services to outsource their computing needs, he said.

The movement contrasts with the efforts of computer-server makers, which have been acquiring companies so they can offer more products and services under one roof. Hewlett-Packard Co., the world’s biggest computer manufacturer, agreed to buy two companies with data-center technology last month, spending almost $4 billion. International Business Machines Corp. is paying about $1.7 billion for Netezza Corp., which makes software and hardware for data storage.

Energy Efficiency

The Open Data Center Alliance aims to establish a universal way of using the technology. For example, with soaring energy costs and computers sucking more power, data-center managers want to be able to turn off machinery and air conditioning when they’re not needed, such as overnight, Feig said. The absence of a set method of doing that means it doesn’t get done, he said.

Representatives of the group, which also includes Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Terremark Worldwide Inc. and China Life Insurance Co., will make their case at a news conference in San Francisco today.

Intel, whose processors power 9 out of every 10 server computers, will act as a technical adviser to the group and supports its goals, said Boyd Davis, general manager of the Santa Clara, California-based company’s Data Center group.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net