IBM is under no delusion that it can do all these alone. "We recognisethat IDCs and ISPs have value in offering space and bandwidth, andwherever possible we will partner IDCs for space and ISPs forbandwidth because these are not IBM's core business," says Lee. Tyingall these resources with its Universal Servers Farm architecture, IBMis confident that customers will come in droves.

There is a much subtler reason why vendors are listening. "They arebeing pressured by their own customers," says AAC's Leong. "Manycompanies are looking at less expensive alternatives offshore, andthey are asking vendors to provide such facilities to enable that.Else, they are moving out." Eventually, as companies demand more andmore attention for services and not products, vendors will soon morphinto service providers.

IT would then achieve its true goal: to become a business utility. Itwill then make that old puzzle and that wrong answer, irrelevant.