There’s a tendency in the tech world to view IBM as a pusher closed technology ecosystems. We don’t blame you if this is what you think about IBM, but we’re here to say that in regards to today’s IBM, that perception is flat-out wrong.
Along Comes Linux
As we move full-speed into the era of cognitive computing, companies who formerly advocated closed systems are changing their tune.
In 2013 IBM began a five-year commitment of over $1 billion to fuel Linux and Open Source Innovation on Power Systems. Now, three years in, we’re seeing the ramifications of the increasing openness to open systems.
Innovate with Open Technologies
IBM is fully bought into open innovation. It’s one of their three core principals of their Cognitive Business vision:
- Design for Cognitive Business
- Build with Open Innovation
- Deliver through Cloud Platform
The embrace open architectures and ecosystems is allowing for the delivery of new solutions faster to market. This is critical in the cognitive era where technology breakthroughs are happening at a rapid pace.
Building with open innovation means providing leadership and support for open innovation and stack optimization for supporting both contemporary environments and emerging open innovation. This also allows for the faster build of infrastructure that is optimized to run specific workloads based on unique business requirements.
Open IBM Success Story
HPS – Capacity on Demand
Consider Health Plan Services of Tampa, Florida, the largest independent provider of sales, benefits administration, retention, reform and technology solutions to the insurance and managed care industries in the United States.
HPS membership increased over 250% with the onset of the Affordable Care Act. They went from 1000 MIPS (Millions of Instructions Per Second) to 6000 MIPS. They went from five IFLs (Integrated Facilities for Linux) to 50.
This was an organization in dire need of accelerated transformation. Just consider the impact on these systems during open enrollment.
Capacity on Demand allowed for:
- Production capacity of over fill billion transactions per week
- Scaling up and down within minutes
Open Technologies Utilized
- IBM LinuxOne
- IBM DataPower for API Security
- IBM z/VM
OpenPower Consortium
The Open Success Story with HPS is just a small example of how IBM is becoming a leader in Open Technology. Need more proof? Look no further than IBM’s open licensing model and their leadership in the OpenPower Consortium.
IBM is working with over 149 member organizations to build open ecosystems using POWER architecture.
IBM – Build with Collaborative Innovation
Open technologies are at the core of IBM’s Cognitive Business concept. As we continue to tell this story we’ll dive into how this concept requires more than just open technology, it requires that organizations have a choice for optimization.
Next time we’ll discuss the importance of optimized systems that are built for the dynamic needs of economics, data access, workloads, machine learning, compliance and performance.
Subscribe to keep up with this story or reach out to us to start building your own cognitive business story.
