IBM acts on $50b private cloud spend prediction with new platform
IBM predicts companies will spend more than $50 billion globally starting in 2017 to create and evolve private clouds with growth rates of 15 to 20% a year through 2020, prompting the release of the company's private cloud platform.
The IBM Cloud Private software platform was launched yesterday - and it has been introduced by its ability to help companies unlock billions of dollars in technology investment in core data and applications.
IBM Cloud Private software is designed to help companies create on-premises cloud capabilities similar to public clouds with the prime focus of accelerating app development.
The new platform is built on the open source Kubernetes-based container architecture and supports both Docker containers and Cloud Foundry.
This facilitates integration and portability of workloads as they evolve to any cloud environment, including the public IBM Cloud. IBM also announced new container-optimized versions of core enterprise software, such as IBM WebSphere Liberty, Db2 and MQ.
An airline, for example, could use IBM Cloud Private to bring a core application that tracks frequent flyer miles into a private cloud environment and connect it to a new mobile app in the public cloud.
"Innovation and adoption of public cloud services has been constrained by the challenge of transitioning complex enterprise systems and applications into a true cloud-native environment," says Arvind Krishna, senior vice president for IBM Hybrid Cloud and director of IBM Research.
"IBM Cloud Private brings rapid application development and modernization to existing IT infrastructure and positions it to be combined with the services and experience of a public cloud platform.
According to IBM, key features IBM Cloud Private include:
Cloud Management Automation - Streamlined management across cloud environments to help launch, monitor and manage services and help ensure consistent security protocols.
Security - Data Encryption - Security Vulnerability Advisor to scan containers across the cloud to surface potentially serious issues and weaknesses; Ability to encrypt all data in flight and provide for strict access control by users within a cluster.
Core Cloud Platform - Includes a container engine, Kubernetes orchestration, Cloud Foundry and essential management tools surrounding developer runtimes, which are fully integrated and automated.
Infrastructure Choice – Compatible with systems from leading manufacturers including Cisco, Dell EMC, Intel, Lenovo and NetApp, as well as IBM Systems, including IBM Power Systems, IBM Z and IBM Hyperconverged Systems powered by Nutanix software.
Data and Analytics – Integrations with database services, such as IBM Db2, PostgreSQL and MongoDB, to leverage data and gain business insights.
Application Support - DevOps Tools – Containerized versions of software and development frameworks, including IBM WebSphere Liberty, Open Liberty, MQ and Microservice Builder, as part of software bundles; Optimized management and DevOps tools, including APM, Netcool and UrbanCode, which can be added for a separate fee.
