The last two weeks have turned out to be good for IBM. Its Q1 financials were surprisingly upbeat, especially the z System and Gartner anointed it as a leader in its annual Market Share: Application Infrastructure and Middleware (AIM) Markets, Worldwide, 2014 (below)
Source: Gartner (click to enlarge)
“With the emergence of hybrid cloud, mobile, Internet of Things, and analytics – IT leaders are realizing that success starts with having an open platform built for digital transformation and future workloads yet delivering value today,” said Marie Wieck, GM, IBM Middleware in the recent announcement.
Specifically, according to the Gartner report, IBM leads in nine of the 12 application infrastructure and middleware segments: Business Process Management Suite (BPMS), Mobile Application Development software, Application Development, Message Oriented Middleware, and Transaction Processing Middleware. Gartner also noted that emerging opportunities such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, mobile enablement, intelligent business operations, and in-memory computing as areas in which AIM providers continue to innovate.
This is especially true of IBM, which will display its AIM prowess at IBM Edge2015 coming up in just a few weeks in Las Vegas, May 10-15. IBM bills Edge2015 as the Infrastructure Innovation event. Below are some of the sessions that reflect IBM’s AIM leadership.
(zCV2415) How the Mainframe Plays in the Next Generation of Cloud Computing; presenter Glenn Anderson
What do people mean when they say “Cloud Computing?” What relevance do cloud computing discussions have to a mainframe data center? Anderson offers a quick trip through the world of cloud computing. As the cloud discussion shifts to concepts like hybrid cloud and the API economy, how does the mainframe play? Is z/OS really a cloud platform? So may questions. But Glenn promises plenty of answers and opinions.
(cCV1592) Build a Hybrid Cloud Platform with IBM Power Systems and SoftLayer; presenter Guilhaume Garcia
According to a recent study led by Gartner, 50% of organizations will adopt a hybrid cloud model by 2017. This session and demonstration includes an overview of the major hybrid cloud uses cases and capabilities of the IBM portfolio. The demo focuses on one of the major scenarios (cloud bursting) featuring IBM Cloud Manager with OpenStack on IBM Power Systems and SoftLayer for a hybrid platform. Garcia will position IBM products for private, public, and hybrid clouds while exploring the value of the hybrid cloud for specific workloads.
(cCV0369) Infrastructure Matters for CAMSS; presenter Jean-Michel Rodriguez
Transform or die—this characterizes the situation many IBM customers are facing, with key technology options driving you to be more competitive and management pressuring you to increase market penetration. The answer lies in these areas: Cloud, Analytics, Mobile, Social, and Security (CAMSS). It promises business opportunities for organizations with the right skills to transform opportunities into game changing solutions. More than ever, technology trends are changing rapidly and customer requirements even faster. To support and advise management to make the right decisions, it is critical to understand the offerings available in the technology landscape. In this presentation, learn how IT can help address such business challenges by leveraging CAMSS with IBM solutions.
(cIT0500) How to Make IT a Competitive Business Differentiator; presenter Roger Bales
Cloud, analytics, mobile and social computing (CAMS) are little more than industry buzzwords unless their application strongly supports business objectives. Here the presenters describe practical approaches to aligning IT with business goals so that IT is seen as a competitive differentiator in which the business should invest rather than a pure cost to cut. Topics covered include marketing IT to business leadership, selling IT into the C-Suite, and developing the CIO’s and IT leadership team’s strategy presentation. It also will cover practical approaches to IT strategy and IT resource deployment for maximum business impact.
(cIT0513) Prepare for New Workloads Emerging from Cloud, Mobile and Big Data; presenter Roger Bales
Cloud, mobile, big data and analytics technologies, when successfully deployed, offer great competitive differentiation for a business. But they also can introduce risk. Therefore, it is essential that IT workloads are well aligned with the business, as well as technical and operational practices. This session discusses practical approaches to preparing for the new capabilities by sharing proven methods for developing effective IT strategies and plans. Additionally, tips and client experiences will be discussed.
(cSM1659) Reinventing IT for Cloud and Mobile; presenter Frank Rodegeb
As companies introduce more mobile applications, IT will need to provide higher levels of service availability while responding to seemingly conflicting goals of reducing costs and becoming more agile. At the same time, moving the technology infrastructure to cloud will introduce implications that need to be fully understood and carefully managed. This presentation discusses some of the many challenges faced by IT organizations and provides out-of-the-box thoughts on how companies can bring their service management processes into the 21st century to transform how they manage IT services.
Of course, plan to save time for the free evening entertainment. In addition to Penn & Teller, a pair of magicians, and rocker Grace Potter, here, there will be a weird but terrific group, 2Cellos as well.
DancingDinosaur is Alan Radding, a veteran IT analyst and writer. Please follow DancingDinosaur on Twitter, @mainframeblog. See more of his IT writing on Technologywriter.com and here. Please join DancingDinosaur at IBM Edge2015. You will find me hanging out wherever people gather around available power outlets to recharge mobile devices.
