IBM this morning announced a multi-year, $1 billion investment in  Linux on Power Systems that will include a new developer center in Montpellier, France, for European Linux developers and a new Linux on Power development cloud that is available free of charge to developers. This is in addition to the string of major Linux announcements IBM has made over the last few months including the 7R4 four-socket Linux-only Power server, the Open Power initiative with  development centers in Beijing, Austin, and New York City, its commitment to OpenStack, and the steady porting of more than 140 core IBM applications and platforms to Linux so far, including DB2, Cognos, and WebSphere.

The announcement, made at LinuxCon 2013 this morning, is “meant to demonstrate a level of seriousness in the Open Systems area that we know is important to our clients,” said IBM General Manager for Power Systems Doug Balog. “Our clients and the ecosystem around Linux are clearly looking to see that commitment.”

One major reason for IBM’s new investment is that clients “need a real set of platforms to address their Big Data issues. We here time and again that our clients are drowning in data. They need a platform that from the ground up is designed for data. That’s really where the Power platform has been and will continue to be. Those new workload areas around Linux will be super important.”

The other reason, he said, is that clients want to move to Open platforms, particularly for their new-generation application development, including support for mobile and cloud computing. The new cloud service, for instance, “is a place where developers can log in and do a cloud construct, do their development, get the application ported, and get to market very fast and be ready for business.” IBM already has “thousands of ISVs” with applications on the Linux on Power platform.

This investment does not indicate a lessening of IBM support for its proprietary systems, he said. IBM has tens of thousands of clients running their businesses on AIX and System i, and IBM has no intention of backing away from those clients. However, he said, the thrust of new development, particularly of new-generation applications, is in Open Systems. On the mainframe side, where Balog came from two months ago to become GM of Power, today IBM sells more capacity for new open system workloads than traditional workloads.

Under his leadership, Balog said, the Power division will continue the aggressive schedule of new Open Systems announcement of the last four months. “We want to communicate more aggressively that Open is a core part of our strategy, not just an afterthought or a hobby.”