Do you use cloud, on-premise systems or some sort of hybrid model? Most companies will opt for the last of those options since they can’t shred their existing technology and simply walk away from it. Some with budget can afford a "big bang" approach but whatever the model, there is a good chance that elements of it will be dictated by the hardware they select – one particular vendor’s hardware will often run only their software, and the rest of the infrastructure is dictated by that.
This has been straitjacketing the technology community for some time, which is why IBM PureApplication Software, part of the PureSystems ecosystem, is likely to appeal to many. PureApplication offers a smarter path to hybrid cloud, which integrates on-premise and off-premise systems, and lets you deploy applications seamlessly and rapidly between the two. Until now, PureApplication was only offered as a system or managed service. However, the recently announced PureApplication Software allows you to ‘bring your own hardware’, integrating seamlessly with your existing kit.
To find out more about how you can get the benefits of PureApplication on your own hardware, join Icon Solutions at their "Leveraging PureApplication Software" webinar on Wednesday 11th March at 3pm. Sign up for free here!
It’s as simple as Lego
There’s a really good blog entry by Ash Simpson on the Expert Integrated Systems blog that compares the cloud to a vast amount of Lego pieces. In and of themselves individually they’re comprehensible and can be simple; link them all together and you reach a lot of variety, ranging from a kid building their first wall with just a few bricks to a Lego movie in which Batman and other characters take leading roles. Simpson compares PureApplication to the first set of Lego bricks someone has, because it opens up the potential for so much without being unduly complex in its own right.
The concept is to simplify the hybrid cloud experience through "patterns". Traditionally, deploying applications on hybrid cloud platforms could be tricky, involving complex and time-consuming rearchitecting for on-prem and off-prem clouds. PureApplication’s "patterns" automate this process, allowing you to deploy new apps in hours, not months.
Hybrid – on your own hardware
PureApplication Software is the third child in the PureApplication family. It aims to make a hybrid cloud work harder by making it into a dynamic system rather than a default marriage of the new and old:
– PureApplication System offers an on-premise cloud solution
– PureApplication Service on Softlayer provides a scalable and responsive off-premise cloud
– PureApplication Software now means that you can integrate your existing hardware with other parts of the PureApplication cloud system.
The three systems work seamlessly together, giving a dynamic and scalable hybrid cloud system that offers a number of benefits:
– Seamless deployment: Create applications once, and deploy them between on-prem and off-prem clouds without change
– Rapid innovation: Keep your edge over the competition by deploying apps into test or production in minutes, not months
– Reduced cost: cut administration and provisioning costs
– Scalability: the hybrid cloud approach gives your infrastructure the flexibility to adapt to changing workloads
Such claims have no substance without external substantiation, which is why it’s worth mentioning Forrester’s recent report on the subject. Analyst Richard Fichera examined the area a couple of years ago when PureApplication first launched. At that stage the suggestion was that the system would work best if the various elements of a business, both technological and business, are further aligned so the technologists will deliver what the businesspeople need rather than what happens to be possible.
The couple of years since this launch have seen a far greater understanding between the technologists and the business people emerge so the environment has been able to deliver, as a number of case studies highlighted in the links below confirm.
The idea of the cloud was always to make systems extendable and to right-size everything without the overhead of a load of extra hardware. The emergence of PureApplication Software means a much more dynamic version of hybrid and legacy systems is possible than before, allowing much more freedom than managers have previously found possible.
For more information and case study examples, click here. Or alternatively, join the "Leveraging PureApplication Software" webinar on Wednesday 11th March at 3pm.
