Cloud Computing Helps Revive Corporate IT Spending, Boosts Intel and IBM

Better-than-expected earnings this week by several major technology vendors suggest a rebound is underway in corporate IT spending - much of which was postponed by the recession - and a big surge in cloud computing investments. Intel Corporation (Nasdaq: INTC ) reported a 34% rise in first-quarter profit due to strong sales of chips for high-end servers used in data centers in addition to a surprising increase in PC chip sales. And International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM ) reported its highest revenue growth in a decade as businesses bought more servers and equipment for data centers. Other tech vendors posting positive earnings included EMC Corporation (Nasdaq: EMC ), a manufacturer of corporate data storage products, and VMware Inc. (Nasdaq: VMW ), which develops virtualization software used on corporate servers.