CIOs considering moving core applications to the cloud are often concerned about losing control of their data. Today IBM is announcing a new technology that can allow them to control exactly where their data is stored by an IaaS or SaaS provider.

The technology – “geographic governance of data over clouds”: U.S. patent number 8,676,593 — allows users to choose or change the physical location where cloud data resides, allowing them to ensure compliance with regulations and corporate policies. A smart routing device for cloud data, it allows users to tag their data and use an intelligent cloud management system to store those files in a specific cloud data center in a specific geographical location. It can provide metadata on exactly where the data is that can be used for compliance audits.

The technology was developed by an IBM Laboratories team headed by IBM Master Inventor Sandeep Ramesh Patil, the latest in more than 150 issued and pending U.S. patents he and his team have developed in the areas of cloud storage, security, file systems and collaboration.

The technology has not yet been built into a specific product, and IBM could offer no timeframe for its appearance in a form that customers can use.

Graphic courtesy IBM