IBM Cloud Offering Decoder

[This article was submitted for future publication on ThoughtsOnCloud.com]

Years ago, I had the opportunity to chat with a VP in charge of IBM software research, and I asked him point-blank, how are IBM products different from the competitors'? He answered simply that other products on the market were “uni-taskers” – having limited function – whereas IBM offerings were like a whole set of dependable Craftsman® tools. The uni-tasker might offer a quick and easy fix, but IBM offers customers a range of options they can use to build the right solution.

I am reminded of this conversation again as I look at the IBM cloud offering portfolio. In the cloud marketplace, there certainly are a lot of uni-taskers, but the value in the IBM cloud portfolio is that it is extensive, with offerings to meet the needs of all kinds of businesses, large and small. However, having too many choices can be daunting. I am definitely in the camp of “having a lot of options is a good thing,” but I can see how this might cause some confusion and make things more complicated for customers looking for the right solutions for their business. That is why I give you my “cloud offering decoder” if you will.

Where do you fit in to the cloud ecosystem?

By now, you might be familiar with the cloud delivery models:

• Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
  
• Platform as a service (PaaS)
  
• Software as a service (SaaS)
  

However, whether you want to move a little of your business on to the cloud, or a lot, cloud adoption patterns tend to fall into one of the following categories, depending on how you want to use cloud:

What do you want to do with cloud?	Solution	Cloud delivery model
Cut IT costs and reduce complexity	Cloud enable your data center	IaaS
Accelerate application development, testing, and deployment	Leverage cloud platform services	PaaS
Transform business processes, build your brand, innovate with speed and efficiency, drive sales and profitability	Use business solutions on cloud	SaaS
Create, manage, and monetize cloud services	Become a cloud service provider	Cloud infrastructure

IBM cloud offerings are grouped around the following adoption patterns:

• Cloud enabled data center (IaaS): Here are a plethora of offerings, ranging from IT services to help you plan your cloud strategy, to implementing an advanced cloud infrastructure.
  
• Cloud platform services (PaaS): These are pre-built, pre-integrated IT infrastructures tuned to application-specific needs. The offerings here support development, deployment, and testing of applications on the cloud.
  
• Business solutions on cloud (SaaS): The IBM offerings here cover business process design, social business, supply-chain visibility, digital marketing optimization, B2B integration, monitoring as a service, desktop cloud, and more.
  
• Cloud service provider: Here you have everything you need to build the cloud infrastructure, enable and extend applications in the cloud, and so on.
  

In addition to these cloud adoption patterns, there are a number of offerings to help secure, manage, and integrate a cloud environment. (A nice way of saying, “Stuff that did not fit into the other categories.”)

• Cloud security: Offerings range from services to help you build a strategic cloud security roadmap to protecting and managing critical business data, for example, IBM Security Virtual Server Protection for VMware.
  
• Cloud service assurance: Offerings include IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Virtual Servers, IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Virtual Environments, and more.
  
• Integrate and manage hybrid clouds: Offerings include Cloud Service Delivery & Management, WebSphere Cast Iron Cloud Integration, and more.
  

IaaS	PaaS	Saas	-
Cloud-enabled data center	Cloud platform services	Business solutions on cloud	Cloud service provider
Cloud security, service assurance, hybrid cloud integration and management

IBM fall cloud launch

The IBM cloud computing webcast on Oct. 12 did an excellent job of presenting the IBM cloud offerings, and you can visit the IBM Cloud Computing Briefing Center to access a replay of the event. After registering, be sure to explore the links under the Directory in the virtual meeting center where you will find more detailed information about specific cloud topics and offerings.

Mirv's "Greatest Hits" of 2011: Planning your cloud education

This post was originally published on ThoughtsOnCloud.com on Oct. 26, 2011.

As with any new technology, there is a learning curve, and cloud poses some unique challenges when it comes to determining the right training path. There are so many different cloud offerings right now, and so many education resources, that it can be difficult determining exactly what type of training might be needed by the people working on your cloud project, and just where to start.
You want to seriously consider your training needs. A lot of organizations skip this step, and that is not a good idea, especially if you consider how much of an investment you are making in the technology and in your staff. Making the wrong choices can cost you time and money. You might think that you cannot afford training, but if you don’t have the right skills to implement your project, you cannot afford not to train. Besides, a lot of good cloud education resources are out there and are free!
Without knowing more about your project, I can’t give you a detailed and exhaustive education plan right here and now, but I can give you some pointers and guidelines for finding useful resources, no matter what technologies you are using.

First things first

First, look at the scope of your cloud project. What software and systems are involved? What job roles are involved? How much time do you have? What is your training budget? What delivery format (classroom, online, self-paced, blended) do you prefer? There are course offerings and learning resources available to fit any budget, from high-level overviews to in-depth hands-on training.

Just the basics

If you don’t know where to start, start at the beginning with a basic overview of cloud computing. This overview will help give you a context for further developing your education plan.
This knowledge path on developerWorks provides a simple outline, and a number of links to resources that cover basic concepts, terminology, benefits, risks, and considerations when moving to the cloud. And, it’s free.
The ZS009 Fundamentals of Cloud Computing self-paced virtual course offering covers the fundamentals of cloud computing in detail, including key concepts and terminology, delivery models, deployment scenarios, security considerations, IBM cloud reference architecture, and IBM cloud offerings.

Custom-tailored to fit

Much of the IBM formal training offerings are aligned with specific product offerings, and are built around particular job roles, such as system administrator, application developer, system architect, and so on. The IBM training finder is a good starting place for finding education about a particular technology area or job task. You can also specify various skill levels, delivery types, and other criteria, such as free versus fee-based training.
You can build your own customized IBM training catalog here, based on similar criteria, and if you still have questions about what to include in your training plan, you can request a complimentary training plan from IBM.
If your budget is really tight, and your time is really short, give the IBM Education Assistant a try. It provides a large collection of presentations, some with audio, on specific products and technologies, in Flash and PDF format. There are also demonstrations of specific tasks, tutorials, and other resources available. The topics are organized by brand.

Alternative channels

A lot of channels on youTube are worth exploring; these are only several of my favorites:

• The IBM Cloud channel on youTube has a short series of videos for getting started with cloud computing.
• The IBM WebSphere Education channel on youTube provides a sampling of content from their course catalog, as taught by IBM instructors. There are over 25 videos available covering WebSphere Application Server system administration, SOA, BPM, and more.
• IBM Education Assistant also has its own youTube channel here.

Conferences and events

Technical conferences and other events provide excellent opportunities to train on the latest technologies. You can often cover a wide range of topics, and get an in-depth view of new products in only a few days at a conference. There has been a huge proliferation of “cloud-computing conferences” around the globe – one only has to search that phrase to find them. Also, check the IBM schedule of events here. IBM technical universities give you a “deep dive” into IBM systems.
Perhaps an even better alternative to a conference is CloudCamp. CloudCamp is an interactive event open to cloud IT professionals, vendors, and users, to encourage open discussion and the exchange of ideas. It follows an unconventional format – Open Space Technology – where initially, there is no agenda. The attendees propose the topics and sessions they want to cover. It doesn’t cost anything to register, and there are many confirmed dates and locations to choose from.

Join a community

One of the best (and free) ways to learn is to get involved with a group of people interested in the same thing. The Global WebSphere Community, or WebSphereUserGroup.org, is a very active social network, with local branches all over the world, that meets regularly to discuss various WebSphere topics. The website features blogs, white papers, presentations, webcasts, and other media, and has a forum dedicated to cloud computing.
The Cloud Computing Central developerWorks community has been active since 2009 and is still going strong. There, members can post messages, blogs, bookmarks, and more about all things cloud-related.

2011 was a good year for IBM

Check out this story on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/28/143834727/ibm-sees-a-big-boost-as-it-turns-100

That sums it up very nicely.

IBM Sessions at Gartner Symposium ITxpo, Orlando, 2011

I attended several sessions presented by IBMers at the symposium. Here are some of the highlights and points that I took away from each one, summarizing my live posts from @mirv_pgh on Twitter.

Best Practices for Cloud & Database Security

On Tuesday, Al Cooley, IBM Director of Data Security, spoke on cloud and database security. Security is one of the big concerns that most customers raise about cloud computing.

Some highlights:

Intruders tend to go straight for the databases because that's usually where the goods are. Best practices:

• discover, identify your sensitive data
• assess vulnerabilities
• harden security
• perform auditing
• monitor activities
• monitor applications
• implement access control
• encrypt sensitive data
• mask your test data

Transforming @ IBM: Innovation that Matters

On Tuesday, Leslie Gordon, IBM VP of Application & Infrastructure Service Management, spoke on IBM's own transformational journey as a global IT enterprise. It was interesting for me, as an IBMer to hear about how IBM implemented these changes across the organization.

Some highlights:

• The foundation: a globally integrated enterprise, mandate for growth and making things smarter.
• What is an essential CIO? 2011 CIO study – The Essential CIO – download your copy here.
• Cloud computing is in the top four of CIO priorities.
• There is a call to serve the enterprise. Remember, everything won't get done in a year.
• Cloud computing is not rocket science but it is computer science.
• IBM's internal cloud moved select resources to a more agile, cost-effective platform.
• IBM put it's own analytics, collaboration, development and test, and more in the cloud.
• Watson, named for one of IBM's founders, is now being used to help physicians make diagnoses. It saves time and saves lives.
• Read more about how Wellpoint is putting Watson to work in the healthcare industry here.

Transforming your business with Cloud Computing

On Wednesday, Ric Telford, VP of Cloud Computing, spoke on how businesses can win with cloud computing.

Some highlights:

• 30 percent of bugs are introduced by inconsistent configurations. PaaS addresses that by providing reliability, security, scalability.
• 4-6 weeks is an average lead time for application deployment. PaaS can accelerate the development and delivery process, cutting weeks down to days.
• IBM SmartCloud Enterprise is being used for development and test, batch processing, and web applications.
• The new IBM SmartCloud Enterprise+ offering takes it a step further with better support for enterprise applications. You run on a dedicated cloud, built like any production environment.
• IBM SmartCloud for SAP supports SAP applications. The SmartCloud portfolio is being expanded to support other capabilities, too.
• SaaS: IBM offers e-commerce, smarter cities, social business, business analytics, and more on the cloud.
• IBM Cast Iron Integration is a hybrid cloud solution, got mentioned a few times here.
• We see enterprises start with a private cloud and move to a hybrid solution.
• SMBs can start on a public cloud and use SaaS solutions to compete in the marketplace.
• Where private clouds are going – moving to PaaS – integrated middleware, platform and image management.
• Heterogenous hypervisors? Would make a good name for a fantasy sports team. #insidejoke

There were also some good talks given by Kevin Elder, IBM Business Partner, on Business Analytics, and Chris Pepin, IBM Mobile Technology Evangelist, on Social Business and Mobility Solutions. Brandi Boatner covered those talks and you can follow her tweets about them here - @ThinkBluePR.