build resilient hybrid cloud applications and manage

Build resilient hybrid cloud applications and manage complexity with DevOpsHelp accelerate time to value with agility, scalability and interoperability

61% of enterprises say that automation for efficiency will drive cloud investments for the next two years.1

As hybrid cloud architecture rapidly becomes the preferred deployment platform for applications, the pace of digital disruption forces organizations to rapidly transform. Successful change requires an overarching hybrid multicloud framework and comprehensive foundation that address challenges like enhancing reliability, increasing scalability and improving resiliency. It’s crucial that your teams can efficiently design, build and deliver a security-rich application management solution that integrates services management across your ecosystem and helps reduce overall operational expenses.

With technology-enabled solutions, you can proactively monitor applications, avoid outages, quickly troubleshoot problems, automate fixes and continuously improve performance to better meet high expectations of application reliability. But maintaining solutions that reside across on premises, in the public cloud and in the private cloud is a complex task while simultaneously managing end-user expectations for uptime and reliability. It’s difficult to get a comprehensive view across the complex IT landscape. Without this transparency, there’s no way to standardize management practices, integrate systems or attempt to proactively maintain systems—let alone optimize use with advanced analytics, AI and automation.

To help improve visibility and control across application workloads with an enhanced security posture, IBM uses an integrated DevOps toolchain for management services across applications, containers, middleware, virtual machines and IBM Cloud Pak® solutions for almost all leading cloud platforms. From Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud to IBM Cloud® and Red Hat® OpenShift® software, our monitoring and management services can transform your application environment for higher reliability, resiliency and scalability.

We’ll work with you to implement leading DevOps best practices across your hybrid multicloud application management strategy. Our wide range of industry standard and open-source tools are designed to provide enterprise-grade security and compliance for true DevSecOps functionality. This approach helps your IT organization quickly adapt to dynamic market conditions, go to market faster and improve your deployment frequency with increased security.

With our approach, we can help you gain the following benefits from your hybrid multicloud environment:

– Increased visibility through a single-pane-of-glass view with integrated operations for end-to-end monitoring and alerts with DevOps observability

– Automated deployments and management of DevOps toolchains using accelerators, such as IBM DevOps Commander across multicloud environments

– Intelligent engagement with users through a ChatOps- based self-service capability augmented with AI

– Near real-time reporting functions and insights across application pipelines using telemetry systems

– Comprehensive development and management across diverse application environments, including mainframes

– Integrated security operations throughout the application lifecycle to improve security vulnerability responses

Build resilient hybrid cloud applications and manage complexity with DevOps

Our approach

With IBM Cloud Application Management and DevOps, we work with you to create a security-rich, end-to-end, integrated service management environment designed to enable you to consume, orchestrate, govern and drive value from a hybrid, multicloud application environment. By combining your services management strategy across your hybrid multicloud ecosystem, you can transform your application environment for higher reliability, resilience and scalability.

We combine industry-standard, leading DevOps practices with our extensive application management experience, integrating trusted methods, tools and practices, such as IBM Garage™ Method for Cloud Toolkit, the Red Hat OpenShift platform, AI for IT operations (AIOps), open-standard tooling and flexible pricing models. You’ll also be able to harness our solutions operations center (SOC) with a worldwide presence and 24x7 operations along the way.

Our approach has four key services that help ensure your success:

– Site reliability engineering (SRE). Provide architecture and engineering services based on SRE principles and integrated service management architecture. As a result, you can gain reduced operational costs through automation and architecture designed to be flexible and resilient.

– DevOps as a service. Deliver capability assessments, practices and tools adoption to enhance the maturity of your DevOps toolchain integration. This service is offered as a shared, dedicated or customized service that can speed time to value through accelerated and security-rich software delivery.

– Solutions operations center. Integrate service management into your workflows through monitoring and reporting to help comply with service level agreements (SLAs). The resulting single-pane-of-glass view into IT operations and business functions helps reduce unplanned outages and operational expenses.

– AIOps. Automate operations and introduce an intelligent management layer through AI-powered self-healing capabilities and techniques. You’ll gain data-driven automated operations with intelligent insights that help enhance application performance and reduce mean time to repair (MTTR).

The resulting synergy helps lower total cost of ownership (TCO), increase speed and agility, scale innovation across your organization, and enhance visibility and control across application workloads.

As automation accelerates development, DevOps and DevSecOps, by 2023, 90% of new apps will be built and released on demand using policy-driven security and compliance.2


Let’s create a comprehensive environment for your development and management of hybrid cloud applications together. Next-generation DevOps, as a part of Cloud Application Management and DevOps, is designed to deliver the following benefits:

Single-pane-of-glass view Set up integrated operations and telemetry instrumentation for monitoring, alerting and end-to-end visibility of the application workloads, such as containers and platforms, virtual machines, IBM Cloud Pak solutions and more.

Level 1.5 (L1.5) incident management Configure and set up an AIOps-infused model for self-healing capabilities and standard operating procedure (SOP) automation.

Increased security Integrate security operations throughout the lifecycle of the application, helping provide near real-time visibility and remediation of security vulnerabilities.

AI-infused operations Enhance application performance using an intelligent management layer with self-healing capabilities through AI.

Intelligent end-user engagement Create a digital worker interface for collaborative development and management using a ChatOps-based self-service capability integrated with AIOps and DevOps.

Monitor financial metrics Work with financial operations (FinOps*) squads to identify and configure the financial metrics for monitoring and alerting to optimize cloud use.

Enhanced application reliability and scalability Implement SRE practices while developing a hybrid cloud platform environment designed to improve reliability, resilience and scalability.

Asset based accelerators Automate the deployment and management of DevOps pipelines with asset-based accelerators, such as IBM DevOps Commander that uses pre-defined solution patterns.

*According to Whatis.techtarget.com, FinOps (financial operations) is a framework for managing operating expenditures (OpEx) in the cloud.


Use cases

01Avoid outages with proactive monitoring

Problem: A major global airliner needed to maintain 99.8% reliability for its critical, cloud-based system of engagement.

Solution: Using IBM Cloud Application Management, we worked with the client to implement DevOps across testing environments and introduce SRE principles to design, run and manage a hybrid cloud configuration. We also created a SOC to provide an integrated application operation with 24x7 monitoring and continuous improvement.

Business benefit: As a result, the client gained an increase in customer satisfaction when rescheduling cancelled flights, improved productivity of agents due to an automated toolchain and higher availability of solutions.

02Harness the power of big data for powerful results

Problem: A leading auto manufacturer in India wanted to use the cloud to monitor vehicles, which could enhance safety, security and convenience for its customers.

Solution: We designed, built and helped manage a scalable solution that used Internet of Things (IoT) technology customized for the automotive industry. The solution collects, transmits and integrates data from a car in near real-time using a third-party device. We also created the middleware management support services for tools and a SOC for first-responder incident management, L 1.5 support and reporting.

Business benefit: The client now has an end-to-end, scalable software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution with a low cost that’s designed to be highly available to support peak car volumes. To use the derived insights from this data, we implemented DevOps as a service to track day-to-day tasks, improve code quality and automate deployment. The automation within the DevOps solutions improved productivity, speed and reusability.

03Integrate service management and dashboards

Problem: A leading US-based organization wanted to create a services platform that provides systems support for the business processes of insurance companies.

Solution: IBM formulated a cloud adoption strategy that included a detailed cloud strategy application portfolio assessment with cloud affinity, a cloud infrastructure foundation and cloud operating model. Through design thinking sessions, we worked with the client to design a microservices and API-based platform. We also used our existing shared toolchains for DevOps to enhance service management and helpdesk support, application-level monitoring for critical APIs, runbook-based auto remediation and preliminary diagnosis. Additionally, our teams provided ongoing support.

Business benefit: Automation through DevOps has improved productivity, speed, reusability, history records, manual error avoidance and communication time between client teams. The client now has integrated service management and dashboards established for monitoring operating systems and networks. This visibility allows them to identify opportunities for reinvestment in other modernization areas.

45% of enterprise IT decision makers plan to invest in new container management capabilities to support their cloud and DevOps strategy.3


Why IBM?

Our IBM Cloud Application Management solution with a DevOps approach is designed to transform the way you orchestrate, integrate and simplify your complex multivendor ecosystem through automated operations and a unified end-to-end management strategy. And with close to 90,000 cloud and enterprise application consultants and agile developers, it’s not a surprise that IBM is a recognized leader in cloud migration and integration, enterprise automation, enterprise applications, agile development and security-rich application management services.

Positioned a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Application Management Services on the Cloud 2020 Vendor Assessment4, IBM can help you integrate platforms and operations architecture across your ecosystem, infusing multispeed DevOps at every opportunity. Using tested SRE practices and AI-infused automation, we combine services, operations and management for a single dashboard solution.

Learn more

https://www.ibm.com/services/applications

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2020

IBM Corporation New Orchard Road Armonk, NY 10504

Produced in the United States of America December 2020

IBM, the IBM logo, IBM Cloud Pak, and IBM Garage are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation, in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on ibm.com/trademark.

Microsoft is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

Red Hat® and OpenShift® are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates.

The client examples cited are presented for illustrative purposes only. Actual performance results may vary depending on specific configurations and operating conditions. It is the user’s responsibility to evaluate and verify the operation of any other products or programs with IBM products and programs. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided.

Statement of Good Security Practices: IT system security involves protecting systems and information through prevention, detection and response to improper access from within and outside your enterprise. Improper access can result in information being altered, destroyed, misappropriated or misused or can result in damage to or misuse of your systems, including for use in attacks on others. No IT system or product should be considered completely secure and no single product, service or security measure can be completely effective in preventing improper use or access. IBM systems, products and services are designed to be part of a lawful, comprehensive security approach, which will necessarily involve additional operational procedures, and may require other systems, products or services to be most effective. IBM DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ANY SYSTEMS, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES ARE IMMUNE FROM, OR WILL MAKE YOUR ENTERPRISE IMMUNE FROM, THE MALICIOUS OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY PARTY.

The client is responsible for ensuring compliance with laws and regulations applicable to it. IBM does not provide legal advice or represent or warrant that its services or products will ensure that the client is in compliance with any law or regulation.

1 Cloud Pulse Survey, IDC, March 2020

2 IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Devloper and DevOps 2021 Predictions, IDC, 2020

3 Enterprise Containers and Cloud Management Survey, IDC, June 2019

4 MarketScape: Worldwide Application Management Services on the Cloud 2020 Vendor Assessment, IDC, 2020

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build resilient hybrid cloud applications and manage

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