In IBM has unveiled the industrys most advanced cloud services and software designed from the ground up for enterprise clients. New IBM SmartCloud services and capabilities introduce unprecedented choice, security and portability as businesses shift critical activities to the cloud and use it as a platform for business.
IBM plans to support about 200 million users by the end of 2012 as clients shift core applications and processes to the IBM SmartCloud. Specifically, IBM is launching:
* IBM SmartCloud Application Services, a new platform-as-a-service that will give enterprises the cost and time savings of a cloud environment for a wide range of enterprise applications while maintaining a high level of control and security over deployment and access.
* IBM SmartCloud Foundation, a new portfolio of breakthrough cloud software and hardware that allow enterprises to quickly deploy and control clouds within their own firewalls.
* IBM SmartCloud Ecosystem, new services for IBM partners and independent software vendors (ISVs) to help thousands of small and medium business clients adopt cloud models and manage millions of cloud based transactions by assisting their customers in areas as diverse as banking, communications, healthcare and government to build their own clouds or securely tap into the IBM SmartCloud.
* According to a new IBM survey of more than 500 business and IT leaders, only 33 percent have deployed more than a cloud pilot today but that number is expected to more than double in the next three years. By 2015, 40 per cent of the respondents say cloud will bring "substantial change" and 30 per cent say cloud will drive the invention of business models and revenue streams.
The study clearly indicates that enterprises see the value of cloud but face a unique set of challenges around security, reliability, standards and control in truly extending the use of cloud beyond IT and the virtualisation of data centers.
IBM is committed to help our clients maximise the benefits through the cloud model by enabling them to embrace our broad portfolio of services and technology, in order to leverage their existing IT investments for newer avenues of innovation and productivity, said Vamsi Charan Mudiam, General Manager, Cloud Sales Executive, IBM, India/South Asia. By adopting IBMs SmartCloud, our clients are able to scale up their businesses with improved reliability and security, he added.
New IBM Services include:
New version of its public cloud for the enterprise, the IBM SmartCloud, with new services including the first platform as a service (PaaS), specifically designed to meet the needs of enterprise application development, deployment and management on the cloud.
Through this new enterprise PaaS, clients can achieve the benefits of cloud based economics for the deployment of both traditional and new applications, while at the same time maintaining the security, portability and governance critical to maintaining control in the Cloud.
Available in beta in the fourth quarter, IBM SmartCloud Application Services will offer enterprisegrade security, open Java and cross-platform support with no vendor lock-in, and a comprehensive set of application infrastructure and managed services to enable development and deployment of applications to the cloud.
The Application Services will run on IBMs SmartCloud Enterprise and Enterprise+ - the industrys first enterprise class infrastructure-as-a-platform - specifically designed to run enterprise workloads, at committed business centric service level agreements
IBM SmartCloud Application Services hide the complexity of managing the infrastructure underneath the platform services and simplify the installation, setup, configuration and management of applications, middleware and application tools. This allows enterprises to focus on the business requirements of application itself.
Key capabilities will cover five categories:
* Application Lifecycle Provide development organizations with access to rapidly activated and team-based development environments and capabilities
* Application Resources Leverage shared services to reduce the cost and simplify the development, delivery and ongoing administration of cloud applications
* Application Environments Accelerate and optimize the deployment and management of your applications with pre-defined environments based on common application patterns
* Integration Integrate your cloud-delivered applications with other applications or resources on-premises or in the cloud
Also, a key enhancement to the SmartCloud includes new services for automating the most common labor intensive tasks associated with managing SAP environments in the cloud. The SmartCloud for SAP Applications taps IBMs experience in managing over 1.5 million users of SAP to significantly reduce the cost and labor associated with SAP cloning, refreshes and patching.
IBM is also announcing the availability IBM SmartCloud Enterprise+ in the U.S.,with full global deployment planned by end of 2012. Announced earlier this year, SmartCloud Enterprise + delivers the cost saving and scalability of a public cloud environment plus the flexibility to dial-in the security, existing applications, reliability, management and support services more typical of a private environment. IBM intends to make SCE+ available to qualified IBM Business Partners to resell in the first half of 2012.
IBM is making available a Cloud Migration Service for hosting and application on demand clients in the U.S. to achieve the benefits of operating on IBM's SmartCloud while minimizing the risk of the transition to cloud delivery. IBM plans to support about 200 million users by the end of 2012 as clients shift core applications and processes to the IBM SmartCloud.
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