IBM announced it is expanding the availability of its hybrid cloud capabilities in China through the launch of Bluemix Local.
Bluemix Local is IBM’s behind-the-firewall cloud computing platform that enables enterprises to quickly and securely build apps and deploy them across public, private and on-premises environments.
The delivery of Bluemix Local brings Chinese enterprises and developers the speed and ease of hybrid app development on IBM’s Bluemix Platform behind an organization’s firewall. Built on an open architecture to provide increased flexibility, Bluemix Local frees up the time that organizations have traditionally spent managing infrastructure and moving data and apps between disparate cloud environments.
“This is a significant milestone for Bluemix and for Cloud Foundry,” said Sam Ramji, CEO of the Cloud Foundry Foundation, in a statement. “Cloud Foundry is a global phenomenon and IBM is responding very effectively to demand. China is becoming a major market for Cloud Foundry, the industry’s standard for platform-as-a-service.”
China is home to 10 percent or about 1.9 million of the world’s developers, according to analyst firm IDC. Forrester Research estimates the overall Chinese IT market to be worth $136 billion this year. The growing developer population is in position to answer the Chinese government’s call to increase local entrepreneurship and innovation.
“As the pace of innovation within China’s thriving tech and developer ecosystem grows faster than ever, so does the demand to significantly expand how cloud can be used to quickly build intelligent and connected apps,” said Steve Robinson, general manager of IBM Cloud Platform Services, in a statement. “Today’s news builds on IBM’s recent collaboration with 21Vianet and establishes Bluemix as the premier cloud platform for helping developers and companies embrace this shift.”
IBM recently announced collaboration with 21Vianet, a carrier-neutral Internet data center services provider in China, to make Bluemix available throughout the country. The collaboration aims to usher in a new era of hybrid cloud-driven innovation and next-generation cognitive, analytics and IoT app development for developers and enterprises in China.
New capabilities of Bluemix Local include IBM’s Relay technology, which ensures all cloud environments remain current. Relay can instantly sync updates across environments, allowing enterprises to experience the same cloud content and visibility, regardless of location.
With the Bluemix Local write-once, run-anywhere feature, users can swiftly build apps in the cloud that stitch together existing systems, and connect data and API’s into a single environment, while keeping apps current across all platforms.
Moreover, with the product’s private catalog and API Management services, enterprise clients can create, publish, manage and monetize their own APIs. The solution’s single admin console puts enterprises in control of their entire cloud platform with visibility through a single dashboard, including real-time releases, updates and patches.
“China is experiencing a wave of mass innovation from its booming tech community and developer population,” said Ernie Hu, general manager of the IBM Greater China Group’s Cloud and Systems Software unit, in a statement. “IBM’s Cloud Computing platform aims to accelerate this innovation, and has the impact to transform industries throughout the country by making it easier than ever for businesses and entrepreneurs to build, deploy and run next-generation apps in any environment.”
IBM said Bluemix Local is particularly significant for organizations in industries such as banking, healthcare and financial services, which must follow strict mandates and internal policies for how security, compliance and sensitive customer data is handled outside of their corporate network. For most organizations, a hybrid cloud approach is the preferred model for connecting these worlds in a seamless way, the company said.
“With the delivery of Bluemix Local, IBM now has the broadest spectrum of hybrid cloud capability in the industry,” IBM’s Robinson said. “Developers are using APIs and building data-intensive apps at an explosive rate, but many, particularly those in heavily regulated industries, want the choice to keep sensitive workloads within their own data center. Clients want options. Now, we are empowering developers to build, deploy and run next-generation apps in the environment they need, with the flexibility to shift across hybrid clouds in a simple click.”
IBM launched Bluemix with a $1 billion investment in 2014.