IBM has released its new SmartCloud services and capabilities, designed specifically to help enterprises to gain the cost and time savings available through using cloud computing as a business platform, and featuring an option specifically for companies running SAP.
Included in the offering are: IBM SmartCloud Application Services, which is a new platform-as-a-service for enterprise applications; IBM SmartCloud Foundation, a portfolio of software and hardware which allows enterprises to quickly deploy clouds within their own firewalls; and IBM SmartCloud Ecosystem, which are new services for IBM partners and independent software vendors to help their customers build their own clouds or securely tap into the IBM SmartCloud.
Through the new enterprise platform-as-a-service, IBM will offer enterprise-grade 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. Key capabilities will be available in the areas of lifecycle, resources, environments, management and integration.
“Enterprise clients are much more conservative because their revenue, reputation and supply chain are closely related to the performance and security of their infrastructure,” said Erich Clementi, senior vice president, IBM. “Our focus with SmartCloud will bring the benefits of this model in a way that supports enterprise level service, leverages existing investments and opens new doors to productivity and innovation.”
A key enhancement to the SmartCloud, according to IBM, are new services for automating the most common labour-intensive tasks associated with managing SAP environments in the cloud. The SmartCloud for SAP Applications aims to significantly reduce cost and labour associated with SAP cloning, refreshes and patching.
The Application Services will run on IBM’s SmartCloud Enterprise and Enterprise+, the company’s infrastructure-as-a-platform offerings, which are specifically designed for enterprise workloads with appropriate service level agreements.
First available in the US, IBM is planning full global availability by the end of 2012, with a target of 200 million users by this date.
