IBM Introduces New Services to Automate Cloud Migration

New automation tools help simplify and accelerate migration to hybrid cloud

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Nov 16, 2018, 09:00 ET

ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today launched new services to help businesses accelerate the complex process of migrating and modernizing applications to cloud and adopt a hybrid, multicloud strategy to speed up their business transformation. With new features available in the IBM Cloud Migration Factory, IBM Services is introducing new automation tools to reduce the time of moving and modernizing an organization's infrastructure, data, applications and workloads.

Most companies today are in the early phases of their cloud journey. As companies look to innovate business models and processes in the next phase of their journey, they need an open approach to developing, running and deploying applications in a multicloud environment. According to research by IBM's Institute for Business Value, 98 percent of surveyed organizations plan to use multiple hybrid clouds by 2021¹.

The secure, seamless migration from an organization's existing infrastructure to the cloud can be a daunting process, typically requiring a multi-pronged approach that includes re-hosting, re-platforming, re-architecting and modernization that can take weeks to a few months depending on the readiness and volume of applications to migrate. In creating hybrid and multicloud based environments, companies face the challenge of needing to move and manage high volumes of data, services and workflows without causing disruption to business. Adequate insights on migration patterns, risks and dependencies are needed to craft a reliable, executable and fast migration approach.

The IBM Cloud Migration Factory is powered by IBM's Cloud Innovate methodology to move applications to cloud and modernize portfolios on a cloud platform. IBM Services has completed more than 100,000 migrations and helped clients choose the right cloud adoption strategy while providing multicloud platform support. Now, with new automated discovery tools, AI capabilities and accelerators, IBM Cloud Migration Factory gathers insights that allow IBM Services to gain a better understanding a client's IT environment and properly map where to move applications and data to help avoid disruption to the business.

This new toolset includes deep insights algorithms based on learnings from years of complex migration and modernizations that help improve planning accuracy and reduce risks by uncovering dependencies and technical and process challenges much earlier in the lifecycle. With these innovative capabilities, IBM Cloud Migration Factory enables smoother and faster cloud adoption across multiple platforms.

"At Mitsubishi Motors Australia, growth has been quite significant, and we need our applications and infrastructure to be ahead of the curve. Moving to a cloud environment was key for us to drive innovation with agility and speed throughout the organization," said Mark Tiddy, CIO of Mitsubishi Motors Australia. "Since migrating to IBM Cloud, we've not only seen a 20 to 30 percent reduction in our operating expense but we're now in a better position to rapidly adopt new technologies that will have a critical impact on the automotive industry and deliver key operational benefits for our organization. IBM Services ensured a flawless implementation by bringing in a robust, fully integrated delivery model with elements that supported not only the application side but the infrastructure, and, more importantly, all migration activities were completed in the background without disruption to the business."

"Migration to cloud and the transformation to a hybrid multicloud IT operating environment is often viewed with anticipation and anxiety, and perceived as complicated," said Sangita Singh, General Manager, Global Cloud Consulting Services, IBM. "Companies require an approach that ensures that their data migration is smooth and fast, and critical applications and functions run optimally during the process. Embedding automation and AI to the migration process of the IBM Cloud Migration Factory provides clients with an accelerated path to cloud, helping to mitigate the impact to business operations."

The IBM Cloud Migration Factory takes advantage of cloud expertise, services and solutions across IBM to address the entire cloud migration and modernization transformation life cycle with an open and consistent approach that includes embedding automation and a reusable library of migration patterns. Drawing on years of IBM experience in migration and IT transformation and mission critical applications, this unified method, process and tool set simplifies cloud migration, better preparing companies to move to the cloud and drive innovation faster.

For example, Signify, a world leader in Lighting, adopted a hybrid strategy that required moving more local applications onto private cloud and migrated another set of around 120+ servers onto new refreshed environments in Signify. IBM Services worked with Signify to identify the best approach and, after repurposing the loads, were methodically migrated with minimal downtime during the transition to cloud.

"With IBM, we started a very challenging program to rationalize and modernize our IT landscape using both IBM Cloud Private and on-premises environments," said Toine Lodewijks, IT Manager at Signify responsible for Industrial and Site IT operations. "The IBM team demonstrated very good knowledge and one team mindset working closely with Signify team. We greatly appreciate the IBM team stretching during weekends and after office hours in pursuit to achieve the set migration and transformation objectives."

About IBM
For more information on IBM Services, visit https://www.ibm.com/services.

Sources:

[1] IBM Institute of Business Value report: Assembling Your Cloud Orchestra

Media Contact:
Marisa Conway
IBM Media Relations
[email protected]

SOURCE IBM