IBM is set to make a major push in its drive to become the top provider of utility, or "on-demand," computing services

The Armonk, New York-based company will invest heavily in its 32 data centers around the globe this year, shoring them up with advanced enterprise-management applications. In its vision of utility computing, these bulked-up data centers will enable IBM to become a complete remote computing provider, selling companies access to its high-powered data centers on a per-usage basis. Companies, or so the theory goes, will see the advantages of renting computing power from IBM rather than buying it themselves. IBM has dubbed its technology "Universal Management Infrastructure" (UMI). Data centers will host the major applications and the management software that guides an enterprise's hardware and software infrastructure, as well as store its servers. "UMI is conglomeration of IBM technologies, third-party technologies and best practices," Gartner analyst Tom Bittman told NewsFactor, noting that, at this point, "It's a very incomplete story." Big Blue's intention "is to build up their on-demand operating environment to really put some meat behind UMI," he said.