Hybrid cloud with IBM Z generates 2.5 times more value than public cloud on its own

It’s no secret; the world is going hybrid as the foundation of smarter business. Over this past year, businesses have been experiencing rapid and unpredictable change. Join us at Think 2021 to learn how to navigate change through transformation, modernization and automation. Learn about the important role IBM Z® plays in hybrid cloud and the businesses using IBM Z to make a difference.

Greater value with IBM Z on hybrid cloud

IBM’s hybrid cloud approach can offer up to 2.5x more value than a public cloud-only approach.[1] Bringing IBM Z into hybrid cloud can provide additional upside on that 2.5x value. The additional value is the result of:

• Access to core business data and workflows: Over two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies use the IBM Z platform, including most of the world’s top banks. Increasing access in support of new digital initiatives, AI and real-time analytics can unlock additional value to the business.
• Modernize applications “in place”: IBM Z has the tools, services, patterns and accelerators to modernize applications and data faster, at lower cost and with less risk than application migration and full rewrite. And because IBM Z supports enterprise DevOps and AIOps using industry-standard tooling, businesses can share skills and processes, driving greater developer and operations efficiency.
• Leveraging inherent IBM Z strengths: IBM Z is a full participant in IBM’s hybrid cloud strategy featuring Red Hat OpenShift, allowing businesses to utilize the scale, resiliency and security of IBM Z, driving greater infrastructure efficiency and lower compliance costs.

Together, this adds up to far greater value when you bring IBM Z into your hybrid cloud.

Great progress with IBM Z in hybrid cloud

Since we were all gathered at Think 2020 almost a year ago, IBM Z has continued to make significant investments in hybrid cloud and has seen great progress with our customers.

IBM’s hybrid cloud platform runs on IBM Z

Since Red Hat delivered the first version of OpenShift for IBM Z and LinuxONE last year, we have seen a phenomenal amount of interest from our customers in combining the innovation and agility of Red Hat OpenShift with the scalability, security and reliability of IBM Z.

Red Hat have now delivered six releases of OpenShift on Z, along with add-ons such as Red Hat Service Mesh and Red Hat Serverless, and IBM has delivered Cloud Paks on IBM Z to help customers predict, secure and automate their businesses.

A major bank in AP states: “To provide the best customer experience, we need flexibility and portability in developing and deploying applications, as well as stability for our customer facing systems. Following a successful proof-of-concept, we are going to deploy Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Z for our production systems.”

Enterprise-wide DevOps and AIOps with IBM Z

Our design point for IBM Z is to provide developers with the same DevOps tools and developer experience as public clouds.

IBM Z has made significant progress in DevOps in the following areas:

• Discovery & business alignment by establishing a baseline of your current application estate for analysis and dependency mapping to lower risk and maximize return on investment (ROI) by determining the right modernization increments. Learn more: IBM Application and Discovery Delivery Intelligence.
• Implement DevOps pipelines and practices on IBM z/OS systems using modern industry-standard tools (such as Git, Jenkins, Artifactory, Sonorqube), and development practices across diverse technology environments.
• Increase deployment velocity with continuous testing to deliver code changes to production without sacrificing stability and scalability. Learn more:IBM Z Virtual Test Platform.

State Farm has accelerated development cycles by bringing agile DevOps practices to IBM Z, delivering new services to customers faster to maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Given that today’s application landscapes are increasingly hybrid, complex and often include IBM Z, how do you effectively sift through terabytes of data in real time to identify issues before they impact customers?

IBM has invested in capturing critical Z operations data and anomalies and integrating them with enterprise AIOps solutions for increased observability.

In October of 2020, Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps launched enabling predictive incident detection and resolution for hybrid applications that now includes IBM Z. Through the integration of IBM Z Operations Analytics and IBM OMEGAMONs, Watson AIOps provides a holistic and single point of view for incidents occurring across hybrid applications.

A secure hybrid cloud approach with IBM Cloud for Financial Services

BNP Paribas runs its strategic core banking applications and databases exclusively on IBM Z. They have also selected the IBM Cloud for Financial Services and have begun onboarding some of the bank’s applications and ecosystem partners. BNP Paribas has already migrated more than 40 line-of-business applications to the platform. BNP Paribas technology partners are also in the process of working with BNP Paribas to initiate the onboarding process in order to develop solutions and transact in a secure hybrid cloud environment.

What’s new with IBM Z on hybrid cloud for Think 2021

As we head toward Think 2021 on May 11-12, I’m excited to preview some new announcements supporting the progress we have made with the goal of delivering even more value to our customers.

DevOps for IBM Z:

• IBM Application and Discovery Delivery Intelligence (ADDI) is the tool for application modernization in your hybrid cloud journey. ADDI now adds Wazi Analyze: a self-service, containerized rapid analysis tool with a graphical, web-based user interface to discover and analyze relationships between z/OS application components.
• IBM Z Virtual Test Platform enables developers to shift left application integration testing and provides deep integration and automation for z/OS powered hybrid cloud applications powered by Galasa, an open-source test automation framework.
• IBM Z Development and Test Environment now empowers developers and testers to quickly self-provision an isolated development and test z/OS environment in a Red Hat OpenShift environment.

AIOps for IBM Z:

• IBM Z APM Connect now integrates with IBM Observability for Instana, extending transactional visibility into middleware such as z/OS Connect, CICS and IMS as well as backend data like Db2, VSAM and IMS DB.
• IBM Z Monitoring Suite – Intelligent alerts can now be correlated with other hybrid cloud events to provide deeper insights into complex issues affecting hybrid cloud applications.
• IBM Z ChatOps provides ChatOps support for Z environments by including a chatbot that gives users access to information from Z systems management tools directly into Slack®, Mattermost®. Support for Microsoft® Teams™ coming soon.

Confidential computing:

• Protecting sensitive data is top-of-mind in all regulated industries. Financial institutions require technical assurance that only they have complete authority over sensitive data, associated workloads and encryption keys in the public cloud. IBM Z technology plays a critical role in enabling confidential computing on the IBM Cloud.

Hope to see you at Think 2021

Please join us at Think 2021 to learn more about these exciting announcements and the important role IBM Z can play in hybrid cloud to drive value for your business.

Here are a few sessions that you may find particularly helpful on this topic:

• Session 1605: The roadmap for integrating IBM Z into hybrid cloud
• Session 1568: Lightning-fast innovation in the hybrid cloud with IBM Z and Red Hat
• Session 1571: Accelerating your application modernization plans with IBM Z – real world experiences and tips.
• Session 1955: Going Beyond Confidential Computing — Protect Your Sensitive Data in the Cloud
• Session 1969: Unleashing the power of hybrid cloud with IBM Z application modernization

See you at Think 2021!