IBM has introduced a hardware appliance that provides access to
software virtual images and patterns which it says can be used to
build a private cloud.
Called WebSphere CloudBurst, the appliance aims to help IT
departments develop, test and deploy business applications
automatically. IBM said the product cuts time-intensive processes
associated with creating application environments. Once finished,
IBM said IT resources are automatically returned to the shared
resource pool and logged for internal charge-back purposes.
WebSphere CloudBurst also manages individual user and group
access.
WebSphere CloudBurst integrates with Tivoli Service Automation
Manager, which IBM claims will allow it to support a more modern
dynamic data centre and reduces IT operational costs by automating
the development and management processes for WebSphere cloud
computing environments.
As part of its public cloud initiatives, IBM has also introduced
BPM BlueWorks, a cloud-based set of strategy and business process
tools.
IBM is also working in collaboration with
Amazon Web Services (AWS), a
subsidiary of Amazon.com, to make IBM software available in the
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). WebSphere sMash,
Informix Dynamic Server, DB2, and WebSphere Portal with Lotus Web
Content Management Standard Edition are available through a "pay as
you go" model for both development and production instances.