23
Sat, Nov
1 New Articles
  1. You are here:  
  2. Home
  3. News
  4. Cloud News
  5. Managed Services / SaaS
  6. IBM Extends Development and Test to the IBM Cloud

IBM Extends Development and Test to the IBM Cloud

Managed Services / SaaS
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

IBM has seen that taking advantage of cloud computing within development and testing environments can help reduce IT labor costs by 50 percent, improve quality and drastically reduce time to market.

IBM has announced plans to go online with its commercial cloud service for software development and testing. IBM, which already delivers a test and development cloud, is now allowing enterprise and government clients to test and develop on an IBM Cloud. Following a successful beta program, IBM is working with partners in cloud management, cloud security and software development and testing support to provide businesses with a unique mix of flexibility, scalability, enterprise-grade security and control for development and test on the IBM Cloud.

The average enterprise devotes up to 50 percent of its entire technology infrastructure to development and test, but typically up to 90 percent of it remains idle. IBM has seen that taking advantage of cloud computing within development and testing environments can help reduce IT labor costs by 50 percent, improve quality and drastically reduce time to market.

IBM's new Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud allows enterprise clients to expand on internal development and test efforts with instant access to resources through IBM's secure, scalable cloud delivery model, IBM software and application lifecycle management capabilities. IBM's enterprise-friendly approach to cloud complements clients' current data centers and traditional development efforts, helping clients:

  • Reduce provision cycle times from weeks to minutes
  • Eliminate software defects by up to 30 percent.
  • Reduce time required for test and quality assurance
  • Enable rapid redeployment of environments across multiple IT projects

PayPal, the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online, is extending its global payments platform, PayPal X into the cloud. PayPal is working with the IBM Cloud Labs to allow its ecosystem of developers to not only innovate on the IBM cloud, but to quickly monetize new applications developed and made available via smart phones. "We want to provide a very simple way to make payments available on all platforms including mobile applications," said Osama Bedier, PayPal's vice president of platform and emerging technologies. "The IBM cloud provides a platform for developers to come together as a community, to create, develop and test new applications. We look forward to seeing the payments innovations our developers create through the IBM cloud and bringing the wallet into the cloud."

The Collaborative Software Initiative is a company that engages the power of communities to develop and deliver new high value enterprise software. CSI has developed an advanced new collaboration portal product for its partner Spencer Trask Collaborative Innovations (STCI). Together they deployed the system as the Department of Education's new Open Innovation Portal -- an online community connecting teachers, administrators, education experts, and charitable foundations to request, propose, and refine ideas to improve public education in the United States. "We used IBM's cloud environment to develop, test, and now deliver this very visible application because of its focus on open technology and its inherent scalability," said Evan Bauer, CTO, The Collaborative Software Initiative.

Partner Ecosystem

IBM is building an ecosystem of partners to deliver the most complete and comprehensive cloud computing solutions to clients. This ecosystem comprises existing and new cloud partners in the IT industry that intend to work with IBM and complement the IBM Cloud in key areas. For example, RightScale and Kaavo can help customers manage and provision cloud resources to facilitate more effective deployment of applications and workloads in the cloud, while Navajo Systems can provide additional security for cloud-based applications and Silanis' e-signature process management can enable secure e-transactions and e-contracts. Aviarc, Wavemaker and Corent can enable development of applications on the cloud, while VMLogix can provide manual, functional, and compatibility testing; AppFirst can provide performance monitoring; or SOASTA CloudTest can deliver load and performance testing -- all taking advantage of the IBM Cloud.

IBM Business Partner and IBM software delivery services beta participant, Trinity Software, works with federal government agencies and clients faced with complex IT administration scenarios and mandatory requirements for compliance and security when developing in the cloud. "Our customers often have barriers to scalability and limited resources for deploying quickly," said Russell Stanley, principle quality management engineer, Trinity Software Solutions. "IBM Rational's software delivery services for cloud computing can be internal or external and scaled to fit on demand, while streamlining testing with minimal overhead. With the additional reduction of risk IBM enables in the cloud, we can prioritize quality."

New Developer Tools and Resources

Today, IBM is also introducing new Rational software delivery lifecycle solutions in the cloud. Rational Software Delivery Services for Cloud Computing v1.0, includes a collection of Rational's market-leading products and capabilities helping clients harness the agility and flexibility of the cloud. Development and delivery teams can more effectively collaborate and quickly develop, test, and deploy new technology-based business initiatives.

Additionally, IBM is launching a new, online cloud computing resource center on IBM developerWorks, the industry's largest technical resource with 8 million registered developers, IT professionals, and students worldwide. The new developerWorks Cloud Computing resources provide a single point of entry to beta and production cloud environments, as well as a place for visitors to learn how to make the most of cloud computing initiatives.

The new resource center will include cloud articles, videos, blogs and hands-on virtual workshops for IT professionals new to cloud or interested in developing cloud infrastructures or applications. developerWorks will host cloud-focused forums and online communities and provide no-charge access to IBM software to help developers get started. The new resource center will include cloud articles, videos and hands-on virtual workshops for IT professionals new to cloud or interested in developing cloud infrastructures or applications. developerWorks will host cloud-focused forums, blogs and online communities and provide no-charge access to IBM software to help developers get started.

In 2010, IBM also will begin a new series of cloud computing workshops at its 40 worldwide IBM Innovation Centers to support ISV business partners seeking cloud skills.

Development & Test for Private Clouds and on the IBM Cloud

IBM has offered a private cloud solution for development and test since June 2009, and now offers development and test services in three flexible delivery models:

  • IBM Smart Business Development and Test Cloud–a private cloud service behind the client's firewall, built and managed by IBM. The service now includes enhanced capabilities for collaborative cloud development using Rational Software Delivery Services for Cloud Computing.
  • IBM Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud–application development and test featuring Rational Software Delivery Services for Cloud Computing over IBM's secure, scalable cloud.
  • IBM CloudBurst offerings for Development and Test–IBM CloudBurst is a pre-integrated set of hardware, storage, virtualization and networking, with a sophisticated built-in service management system to allow clients to rapidly deploy an internal/private cloud environment. WebSphere CloudBurst is a hardware appliance which rapidly dispenses and manages IBM middleware products delivered as virtual images into a private cloud in the form of reusable and customizable patterns.

"Workload characteristics continue to drive the rate and degree of standardization of IT and business services," said Rich Esposito, vice president, IT Strategy and Architecture and Middleware Services, IBM. "Standardization is key to bringing discipline, efficiency and simplicity to the most complex corners of big businesses."

IBM understands that not every kind of computing task will move to a cloud environment, so the company is helping clients identify cloud computing opportunities by workload. Some workloads will remain on premise, but others are ripe for external cloud environments, including development and test.

For clients who need help determining workload and delivery model choices, IBM delivers Cloud Infrastructure Strategy and Design Services. Based on proven methodologies and intellectual property earned through more than 100 client engagements and first-of-a-kind cloud projects, these integrated design services give clients a ready-to-build blueprint for cloud. The services are integrated into IBM's private workload optimized clouds.

Details and availability

The new open cloud environment includes support for Linux -- through Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell -- and Java. Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud is powered by Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, the Red Hat branded and supported KVM offering. The enterprise cloud allows clients to work with their own images as well as images from IBM Mashup Center, Lotus Forms Turbo, WebSphere Portal Server, Lotus Web Content Management, and IBM Information Management and WebSphere brands that can be configured per their selection.

Smart Business Development & Test on the IBM Cloud will be available in the second quarter of 2010 in The United States and Canada, and it will roll out globally throughout 2010.

For more information on IBM's cloud computing portfolio, research and labs please visit, ibm.com/cloud.

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service.

For more information, visit: www.ibm.com.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: