ARMONK, N.Y., Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new hybrid cloud solution -- building on its acquisition of Cast Iron -- to help clients significantly reduce the time it takes to connect, manage and secure public and private clouds. With new integration and management capabilities, organizations of all sizes will be able to gain greater visibility, control and automation into their assets and computing environments, regardless of where they reside.

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As a result, it will be significantly easier to integrate and manage all of an organization's on-and-off premise resources, and will allow a task that once took several months to be done in a few days.

"As a user of IBM WebSphere Cast Iron, we have been able to not only easily integrate our on-premise and cloud-based applications, but also provide live feeds of order data changes to our sales reps on any device, including mobile phones, tablets and laptops," said Randy Berger, IT manager, Process & Application Development, Siemens. "Expanding on the Cast Iron platform will help IBM provide even better access and management for hybrid clouds."

Demand for Hybrid Cloud Computing Model Grows

Increasing numbers of organizations are looking to leverage the scale and flexibility of public cloud, but are concerned about losing control of resources outside of their four walls. This is causing organizations to embrace a hybrid cloud model, where they can more easily manage some resources in-house, while also using other applications externally as a service.

According to industry analysts, 39 percent of cloud users report that the hybrid cloud is currently part of their strategy, with this number expected to grow to 61 percent in the near future. This is the result of both private and public cloud users evolving towards the use of a hybrid strategy.(1)

Yet, as businesses adopt a cloud computing model, they are faced with integrating existing on-premise software such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and homegrown applications, while managing their usage and security. Managing the complexities within and between such hybrid environments is key to effective enterprise business use of software-as-a service (SaaS), according to Saugatuck Technology.(2)

New IBM Technology Will Manage, Connect and Secure Public and Private Clouds

To address this challenge, IBM is expanding its SmartCloud portfolio with new hybrid cloud technology. The solution will build upon IBM Tivoli's cloud management software and extend those capabilities to the application and data integration technology from its Cast Iron acquisition to provide:

    --  Control and Management Resources:  The new capabilities will define
        policies, quotas, limits, monitoring and performance rules for the
        public cloud in the same way as on-premise resources. This allows users
        to access public cloud resources through a single-service catalog --
        enabling IT staff to govern the access and the usage of this information
        in a simplified, efficient and secure way.

    --  Security: IBM enables better control of users' access by synching the
        user directories of on-premise and cloud applications. The automated
        synchronization means users will be able to gain entry to the
        information they are authorized to access.

    --  Application Integration: Using a simplified "configuration, not coding"
        approach to application integration, the software combines the power of
        native connectivity with industry leading applications to provide
        best-practices for rapid and repeatable project success.

    --  Dynamic Provisioning: IBM's monitoring, provisioning and integration
        capabilities allow its hybrid cloud to support "cloud bursting," which
        is the dynamic relocation of workloads from private environments to
        public clouds during peak times. IBM's technical and business policies
        control this sophisticated data integration.

"As the hybrid cloud model is emerging as a strategic means to quickly unlock business value from data sources, IBM is making it enterprise-ready with the best monitoring, governance and security tools available," said Robert LeBlanc, senior vice president, middleware software, IBM. "IBM's new solution will expedite and secure this process to help clients of all sizes access key business applications securely, no matter where they reside."

IBM Cloud Computing

IBM has helped thousands of clients adopt cloud models and manages millions of cloud-based transactions every day. IBM assists clients in areas as diverse as banking, communications, healthcare and government to build their own clouds or securely tap into IBM cloud-based business and infrastructure services. IBM is unique in bringing together key cloud technologies, deep process knowledge, a broad portfolio of cloud solutions, and a network of global delivery centers. For more information about IBM cloud solutions, visit www.ibm.com/smartcloud.

For more information about IBM WebSphere Cast Iron, visit:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/integration/cast-iron-cloud-integration/.

For more information about Tivoli cloud software, visit:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/solutions/cloudcomputing/B.html.

IBM's statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at IBM's sole discretion. Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality. Information about potential future products may not be incorporated into any contract. The development, release, and timing of any future features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion.

(1) North Bridge Venture Partners, GigaOM Pro & 451 Group 2011. "Future of Cloud Computing Survey" 2011.

(2) Saugatuck Technology Inc., 2011 Cloud IT Research Study: Key SaaS, PaaS and IaaS Trends Through 2015 -- Business Transformation via the Cloud.

Contact Information

Faye AbloeserIBM Media Relations908-770-0762abloeser@us.ibm.com

Kara Yi IBM Media Relations 415-545-6742 kyi@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM