IBM expands Cloud offerings for s/w developers

ARMONK, USA: IBM has expanded its Smart Business Development & Test on the IBM Cloud with support for Windows and new enhancements to better serve teams of developers.

IBM is also introducing an integrated development and test environment and new software and services to allow developers to improve quality and speed across the application life cycle said a press release.

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According to a recent IBM survey of 2,000 IT professionals worldwide, cloud computing and mobile will emerge as the most in-demand platforms for software application development and IT delivery over the next five years. With today's enhancements, IBM is extending its environment to allow more enterprise developers to take advantage of the Cloud for development and testing added the release.

Announced earlier this year, the IBM Smart Business Development & Test on the IBM Cloud allows enterprise clients to expand and enhance internal development and test processes with instant access to resources through IBM's secure, scalable cloud delivery model.

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The multi-tenant open cloud now includes support for Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 Data Center Editions.

The enhanced environment includes additional performance and resiliency and features, allowing developers to:

* Rapidly configure environments and easily share them across development teams for more consistent application deployment

* Assign multiple internet protocol (IP) addresses to a single virtual instance, so they can implement security zones and enhance availability in the IBM Cloud

* Attach combinations of storage sizes to a virtual instance at the time of provisioning, ensuring higher performance and resiliency.

The release added, IBM is introducing an Integrated Development and Test Environment, an end-to-end solution approach that integrates tools, processes and cloud infrastructure to enable clients to conduct more robust and complex testing earlier in the application development life cycle, while also reducing the cost of identifying and fixing software defects.