<p>SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The tech industry maxim that "no one ever got fired for buying IBM" is a testament to how Big Blue has been the gold standard in computing services for decades.</p><p>But IBM faces an unlikely challenger in Amazon.com Inc, the e-commerce retail giant that is becoming a force in the booming business of cloud computing, even winning backing from America's top spy agency.</p><p>After years of being dismissed as a supplier of online computer services to startups and small businesses, Amazon Web Services (AWS) beat out International Business Machines this year to snag a $600 million contract with the Central Intelligence Agency.</p><p>IBM has successfully appealed its loss in the contest, stalling it for now. But the episode highlights how Amazon is evolving from an online retailer into a competitive provider of information technology and services to big companies, and government bodies.</p><p><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/21/net-us-amazon-cloud-idUSBRE96K04B20130721">Keep reading...</a></p>