IBM is going deeper into the cloud. On Tuesday, the Armonk, N.Y.-based company announced beta versions of an expanded commercial cloud-based service for software development and testing, on both public and private clouds.
Cloud computing for development and testing environments, the company said, can cut IT costs in half while improving quality, reducing time to market, and utilizing infrastructure more efficiently.
Partner Companies
Other benefits cited by IBM include eliminating software defects by as much as 30 percent, reducing quality-assurance testing time, and enabling rapid redeployment of environments across multiple IT projects.
To help build its cloud-computing ecosystem, IBM is working with a variety of partners. These include RightScale and Kaavo to facilitate deployment of applications and workloads, Navajo Systems for additional security, and Silanis for e-signature process management for transactions.
Other partners include Aviarc, Wavemaker and Corent for enabling cloud-based application development, VMLogix for testing, and AppFirst for performance monitoring.
IBM is also launching a new cloud-computing resource on IBM developerWorks, which already has eight million registered developers, IT professionals, and students around the world. The resource center will include articles, videos, blogs and workshops for IT professionals.
Adding Value in the Cloud
Al Hilwa, program director at industry research firm IDC, said the most popular use of the cloud would be testing. In testing, he pointed out, “you need a lot of on-demand engines to run the code in different settings and scenaria.” Clouds can offer a wide variety of resources, Hilwa noted, and “the more resources you have, the quicker you can get things done.”
But testing in the cloud, he said, is not unique to IBM, adding that Amazon, among others, also offers this capability. The key to IBM’s offering, he said, will be the pricing, which was not announced.
It’s a good move for IBM, he said, since it is a “giant development…