IBM Cloud is a suite of cloud computing services from IBM that offers software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) models. The platform provides modern cloud platform capabilities, including artificial intelligence (AI) for analytics or automation, advanced security, compliance, data protection and scalability.
IBM Cloud is suitable for various enterprise cloud environments. It works for hybrid clouds, where customers combine on-premises cloud infrastructure with virtual cloud services, and multi-cloud approaches, which combine cloud services from different providers. IBM describes the platform as "open by design," meaning it can integrate with other vendors' products and services if needed.
Why is IBM Cloud used?With IBM Cloud's IaaS functionality, organizations can deploy and access virtualized IT resources, such as compute power, storage and networking, over the internet. For compute, organizations can choose between bare-metal physical hardware or virtual servers.
IBM Cloud's PaaS functionality is based on open source cloud platform Cloud Foundry. It lets developers use IBM services to create, manage, run and deploy various types of applications for the public cloud, as well as for local or on-premises cloud environments. IBM Cloud supports several programming languages, including Java, Node.js, PHP and Python.
IBM Cloud offers security, risk management and compliance features that make it suitable for regulated industries, such as healthcare, finance and government. In healthcare, for example, care providers of any size can quickly store and manage large patient data volumes, while adhering to standards such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. For financial institutions, the platform adheres to IBM Cloud Framework for Financial Services to meet the industry's high regulatory standards.
The top players in the cloud market are Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Alibaba, Oracle, IBM and Tencent. IBM Cloud products and servicesIBM Cloud supports a variety of tools and services, including IBM Cloud managed services, preconfigured software and consulting. It also supports access to IBM Watson, IBM Cloud Functions for serverless computing, IBM Databases, IBM Integration Bus and IBM WebSphere Application Server. In addition, IBM Cloud works with various products from third-party cloud providers.
IBM Cloud featuresIBM Cloud services are grouped into 15 categories:
IBM offers four deployment models for its cloud platform:
In 2013, IBM acquired SoftLayer, a public cloud platform, to serve as the foundation for its IaaS offering. In 2016, IBM rolled the SoftLayer brand into its Bluemix brand of PaaS offerings, giving users access to both IaaS and PaaS resources from a single console. IBM then rebranded its entire cloud portfolio as IBM Cloud in 2017.
IBM's main competitors in the cloud market include Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure. AWS is considered the top vendor in this market with an extensive list of services. Azure is useful in enterprises using Microsoft 365 applications. Google Cloud is strong in AI and machine learning capabilities.
IBM Cloud pricingThe cost of IBM Cloud services varies depending on resource use, deployment model, support and other factors. IBM offers a free tier, plus four pay-for-use pricing models.
The first of the four pricing options is IBM's basic pay-as-you-go account, where customers are billed monthly based on the resources they use. The Enterprise Savings Plan is also based on monthly resource consumption, where users commit to spending a certain amount on the platform to receive discounts.
The third option is IBM Cloud Reservations. In this model, the customer organization reserves cloud capacity in advance for one- or three-year terms and guarantees that capacity, which is billed monthly at discounted pricing.
The final account tier is a subscription account that's similar to the pay-as-you-go approach, where organizations commit to a certain spending amount. IBM offers discounted pricing for its services based on the monthly spending commitment, with larger commitments earning bigger discounts.
To better estimate costs, organizations have access to the IBM Cloud cost estimator.
IBM Cloud's list of services spanning AI, machine learning, cybersecurity and automation previews the future of cloud computing. Learn more about future cloud trends and predictions.
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