IBM's SoftLayer acquisition hits one-year mark, launches services

IBM's SoftLayer cloud service launched a series of services that revolve around development of the Watson platform, software defined storage and expanding its marketplace of partners.

2014 Cloud Priorities survey

Big Blue's SoftLayer, a $2 billion acquisition a year ago, is IBM's primary horse in the hybrid cloud race. IBM is moving to challenge hyperscale providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft Azure. The broader theme is that IBM is combining SoftLayer with its hardware, software and services to target hybrid data centers.

Special Feature

The Art Of The Hybrid Cloud

Cloud computing is insatiably gobbling up more of the backend services that power businesses. But, some companies have apps with privacy, security, and regulatory demands that preclude the cloud. Here's how to find the right mix of public cloud and private cloud.

Read now

As for benchmarks, IBM said that 6,000 customers including Whirlpool, Sicoss Group and Generali have migrated to SoftLayer to some degree and the company has built out its partner network to go along with 28 data centers. IBM plans on opening four data centers that will run on the company’s Power Systems in the third quarter as part of its $1.2 billion cloud investment.

The new services for SoftLayer include:

• Watson Developer Cloud on SoftLayer to help build an ecosystem for cognitive computing.
• A Watson Engagement Advisor on SoftLayer for natural language big data queries.
• An expansion of the Bluemix platform as a service offering on SoftLayer.
• Elastic storage to connect cloud and on-premise data.
• Automated service management dubbed IBM Cloud Modular that governs environments.
• Jumpgate, which allows for interoperability between hybrid cloud environments. Jumpgate makes OpenStack application programming interfaces interoperable with proprietary vendor APIs.

For good measure, IBM has expanded its cloud marketplace and now has 300 different services that revolve around data and analytics, development and enterprise relationship management.

More reading:

• AWS' Vogels on hybrid cloud, mobile, big data, technical debt
• IBM expands big data capabilities on cloud marketplace
• Hybrid cloud: Which way will the balance tip between public and private?
• IBM drops SoftLayer cloud storage costs closer to its rivals
• Enterprise giants and cloud computing: What's cloudwashing vs. real DNA change?
• Infrastructure as a service: Really only a three-horse race?