IBM taps open Firefox for its future in the clouds

There’s no escaping just how critical a role the browser plays in the dawning age of cloud computing. For all intents and purposes, the browser is effectively the new desktop operating system, and IBM evidently does not want to be held hostage by any one company’s platform — hence, Big Blue’s decision to adopt Firefox as its default browser internally.

IBM’s opting for Firefox clearly signals the loosening of Microsoft’s grip on the desktop. Does IBM’s choice also signal — with HTML5 now calling the role of some browser plug-ins into question — that Firefox is a safer bet than Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome?

In today’s Web — and arguably in the ideal cloud-computing world — a user is able to access any Web service regardless of browser choice. We’re accustomed to taking broad technology support in all the leading browsers for granted. Yet consider that already we’re seeing browser developers choosing sides in the battle between Flash and HTML5 — and effectively limiting our choices.

For now, that doesn’t have significant implications on the enterprise, but it does set a precedent. IBM may be thinking that Microsoft, Apple, and Google have too much skin in the cloud game to be the most trustworthy browser provider. Better for the company to puts its faith in Mozilla’s long-standing commitment to open standards and open source — not to mention an extensible, plug-in architecture.

IBM’s sanctioning of Firefox should also help spread the word that Internet Explorer isn’t the world’s only centrally manageable browser. IBM will be managing Firefox across Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

According to IBM’s John Walicki, who is leading the company’s Firefox adoption program and “browser independence strategy,” IBM already has Firefox friendly user-management tools in place. In the comments section of IBM VP of open source and Linux Robert Sutor’s blog post about IBM’s adoption of Firefox, Walicki wrote the following:

The IBM internal IT organization uses a Firefox add-on called the Client Customization Kit (CCK) to manage preferences, a standard set of corporate bookmarks, default extensions, and configuration parameters,” he wrote.” We also preload internal search engines for IBM intranet search and the employee directory. Automatic security updates are handled through the built-in Firefox software update facility so that our employees are protected within hours of a security alert. Major updates are disabled by default and can be controlled and provisioned centrally through the IBM CCK management after extensive internal testing.

If open source is key, why is IBM going with Firefox instead of Chrome, which Google pushes as an open source project? Walicki addressed that very question in the comments section of Sutor’s post regarding Big Blue’s adoption of Firefox: “Google Chrome is an interesting and relatively young browser under active development. It is following in Firefox’s footsteps by showing the importance of open standards compliance.”

Walicki added, “IBM has contributed significantly to Firefox’s accessibility features. Ultimately, we went with Firefox as the default browser because of its maturity, cross-platform support, accessibility features, security, extension architecture, and independence.”

Whether it’s Walicki’s intention or not, the subtext there is that Google Chrome is still a Google browser. Further, Google — like Microsoft — is a player in the cloud computing space. Any company looking to float freely among the clouds would rightly be wary in being bound to a company that could potentially clip its wings.

This story, “IBM taps open Firefox for its future in the clouds,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of Tech Watch at InfoWorld.com.