IBM Cloud Computing Strategy Services


IBM Cloud Computing Strategy Services










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IBM
Cloud Computing Strategy Services

by James G. Barr

Copyright 2019, Faulkner Information Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00021063

Publication Date: 1903

Report Type: PRODUCT

Preview

While IBM offers an extensive line of cloud services, the company is
also invested in helping clients develop their own unique cloud
strategy and plans. IBM’s cloud computing strategy services include
IBM Multicloud
Migration Services, IBM Integrated Managed Infrastructure Services, and IBM
Services for Multicloud Management.

Report Contents:


Related Faulkner Reports
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Market
Major Vendors’ Cloud Strategies
Tutorial

Description

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IBM is a global leader in cloud computing with a comprehensive portfolio of cloud solutions, both software and
infrastructure. IBM has spent years acquiring different companies and
technologies to build out its cloud offerings, enabling clients
to readily move to the cloud and easily manage their cloud holdings. 


Vendor
Name: International Business Machines (IBM) Corp
Headquarters
1133 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, NY 10604 US
(914) 499-1900
(800) 426-4968
Fax: (914) 765-7382
Web: http://www.ibm.com/
Type of Vendor: Computer and Communications Hardware, Software, and Services
Founded: 1914
Service Areas: Global
Stock Symbol: IBM (NYSE)

IBM’s Cloud Vision

According to IBM, "Enterprise clients are in the very early stages of

the move to cloud. [The company] estimates that only 20 percent of

workloads have moved to the cloud – with work ahead for

the remaining 80 percent. The first part was to move

business workloads that exist as a layer over core

processes. The hard part is ahead: moving the mission-critical
systems that run banking, retail, telecom and other

industries.

"Some of these workloads will remain in

traditional IT systems, some will move to a private cloud

inside the safety of a client’s firewall, others will move to

public clouds, and some will surge between all of these.

Wherever a workload may reside, it will need to share

its data across environments. All of this requires an

approach that is open, highly interoperable between

environments, and even interoperable between different

public clouds. This is what IBM has long called hybrid

cloud – and this describes the solution for the 80 percent of

the workloads that is to come."1

Cloud Strategy and Planning

An essential element in facilitating
clients’ move to cloud is cloud strategy and planning, which IBM approaches from
the perspective of three potential objectives.

Objective 1: Migrate and modernize your cloud infrastructure

Refocus infrastructure management and operations resources by

migrating to a public or private cloud; shifting from a CapEx to OpEx business model. IBM can help migrate workloads to VMware, IBM Cloud, or any other cloud provider.

IBM’s featured service is IBM Multicloud Migration Services.

IBM Multicloud
Migration Services help clients migrate to any cloud – whether AWS, Azure,
Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, or another – with no business disruption, security
concerns or performance issues. The migrations use standard processes, tools, and automation that help reduce
costs, improve reliability, and increase productivity in a pay-as-you-go model.
Depending on client needs, IBM helps choose the right adoption strategy
while providing multicloud platform support across various providers.

Objective 2: Integrate, manage and optimize

Achieve scale and reliability by integrating and optimizing clients’ workload
management across public, private or hybrid cloud environments.

IBM’s featured service is IBM Integrated Managed Infrastructure Services.

IBM Integrated Managed
Infrastructure Services can simplify hybrid infrastructure management with
modular, pay-for-what-you-need services. IBM can globally deliver
dynamic remote management services for a broad range of traditional and cloud
infrastructures, using advanced automation and analytics to manage critical
infrastructure components worldwide.

Objective 3: Enable cloud native

Evolve clients’ business model with a multicloud environment that enables faster
speed to market and continuous integration of cloud native and DevOps
applications. IBM can support multicloud workload migration with any
provider, whether AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, VMware, IBM Cloud, or another.

IBM’s featured service is IBM Services for Multicloud Management

Eighty-five (85)% of enterprises are in a multicloud environment, but only 41% have a
multicloud strategy. IBM Services for Multicloud Management brings together the needed cloud and service management capabilities into
one common "experience" for users across an enterprise – creating a
collaborative, self-service IT environment. This approach provides enterprises
with an integrated management and operations structure that enables
users to consume, orchestrate, and govern vital services. Advantages include:

  • Continuous change management to keep enterprises in sync with their cloud
    ecosystem.
  • An open framework to avoid provider lock-in.
  • Cloud native operations and IT service management integrations for ITOps
    linkages.

Applications

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When an enterprise pursues cloud computing –
engaging the services of IBM, HPE, or other cloud strategy consulting firm – they are:

  1. Attempting to divest themselves of the responsibility for operating and
    maintaining certain on-premise applications, like enterprise resource
    planning, preferring to rely on a commercial software-as-a-service (SaaS)
    alternative.
  2. Seeking an opportunity to profit by making an enterprise-developed
    application available – for a fee – to any Web-connected client.
  3. Looking to expand their application computing resource pool (CPU cycles,
    storage, etc.) – either temporarily or permanently – by accessing commercial Web services.
  4. Trying to strike a cloud balance between on-premise systems, private clouds,
    and public clouds.

Within this context, most enterprise applications and services are potential
cloud computing candidates, and plotting the future of enterprise IT starts with
developing an enterprise cloud strategy and supporting enterprise cloud plans.

Environment

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Cloud computing is a form of data processing in which applications normally
run "on-premise" in an enterprise data center are run "in the clouds," with
"clouds" being a metaphor for an extra-enterprise network like the Internet. 

According to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
cloud computing services are normally rendered via four prominent deployment
models:

  1. Private cloud – The cloud
    infrastructure is operated solely for an organization. It may be managed by
    the organization or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise.
  2. Community cloud – The cloud
    infrastructure is shared by several organizations and supports a specific
    community that has shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements,
    policy, and compliance considerations. It may be managed by the
    organizations or a third party and may exist on premise or off premise.
  3. Public cloud – The cloud
    infrastructure is made available to the general public or a large industry
    group and is owned by an organization selling cloud services.
  4. Hybrid cloud – The cloud infrastructure is a composition of two
    or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities
    but are bound together by standardized or proprietary technology that
    enables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for
    load-balancing between clouds).

The effect of engaging IBM, or other cloud strategy consulting firm, is to
create and implement a plan in which each enterprise application is hosted and
executed in an environment most conducive to its efficient – and economical –
operation. For most large enterprise clients, this generally means a
hybrid environment, combining both on-premise and "in the clouds"
provisioning.

Support

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The IBM Support framework consists of five
interrelated elements:

  • IBM Support Community
  • IBM Enterprise Support
  • IBM Preferred Care
  • IBM Support for Developers
  • IBM Support for Business Partners

These elements function in accordance with Figure 1.

Figure 1. IBM Support Structure

Figure 1. IBM Support Structure

Source: IBM

Pricing

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IBM Services pricing is contingent on the specific nature of the services
provided, but a number of pricing options are offered.

Prospective clients should direct pricing-related inquiries to (888)
746-7426.

Competitors

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  • Accenture
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Booz Allen Hamilton
  • HP Enterprise 

References

1 "2018 Annual Report." IBM. 2019:23.

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About the Author

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James G. Barr is a leading business continuity analyst and business writer
with more than 30 years’ IT experience. A member of Who’s Who in
Finance and Industry, Mr. Barr has designed, developed, and deployed
business continuity plans for a number of Fortune 500 firms. He is the
author of several books, including How to Succeed in Business BY Really
Trying, a member of Faulkner’s Advisory Panel, and a senior editor for
Faulkner’s Security Management Practices. Mr. Barr can be reached
via e-mail at jgbarr@faulkner.com.

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