Published on Jul 14, 2021 What Are Cloud Platforms and Containers?
Cloud and container platforms — like IBM Cloud Paks — represent the future of automation in a fully managed, serverless platform with fewer human touchpoints.
Cloud and container platforms are superior to traditional implementations in that they:
How Do IBM Cloud Paks Work?
IBM Cloud® Paks are AI-powered software that can help organizations build, modernize, and securely manage applications across any cloud. These paks include pre-certified enterprise-grade containerized software that provides common operations and integration frameworks.
Built on Red Hat OpenShift — the market leader for open source hybrid cloud platforms — they provide a consistent experience for an infrastructure management control plane that includes AI, automation, and security.
What Does This Mean for Your Business?
In a recent webinar about IBM Cloud Paks, Scott Burt, Vice President of Corporate Strategies at Innovative Driven, called the service a mix of software, technology, and licensing that does not limit a user to one cloud service. “If you’re tired of expensive upgrades, excessive downtime, and a lack of flexibility, you’re looking at the future [in IBM Cloud Paks]. What used to take hours — even days — can now be done with a simple code insertion in five minutes.”
IBM Cloud Pak’s organizational benefits include:
Another interesting benefit to the IBM Cloud Pak is the introduction of the “digital worker.” These are defined as a category of software robots trained to perform specific tasks or processes with their human colleagues.
“This is new functionality,” Burt said. “Digital workers give you the ability to insert automation into workflows and do things like extract data, classify documents, translate languages, read and send email, and make rule-based decisions and predictions.”
Digital workers can be monitored to help the transition process to increasingly automated workflows. Burt said the future will include a hybrid workforce and one in which humans work on bigger ticket projects, while digital workers do things like enter and match invoices.
Cloud and container platforms and containers offer great automation benefits, yet only 20% of businesses use them. “Traditional implementations have inherent problems like integration issues, unsupported applications, investment costs and fear, uncertainty, and doubt of the yet unknown,” Burt said. “But with IBM Cloud Paks, you can pick and choose any or all of the services and only pay for what you need.”
These services include:
Included with these are application codes, run time, settings, system tools, libraries, and out-of-the-box dashboard and reporting abilities.
IBM Cloud Paks have an interesting future within the digital world. To learn more, watch the webinar or read more here.
