IBM launches multi-cloud management tool, continues to emphasise open, AI-driven future

IBM is making a big bet into the multi-cloud game with the launch of a new management tool aimed at integrating workloads from different providers. The Multicloud Manager tool runs on IBM’s Kubernetes based Cloud Private platform, and, while being optimised on IBM’s cloud, will allow organisations to manage and integrate workloads from other cloud vendors including Amazon, Microsoft, and Red Hat. The launch is being supported with findings from a research report, conducted by IBM and Ovum, which found that 85% of companies surveyed were using more than one cloud environment. Despite this, four in five mission-critical workloads were still being run on premises due to performance and regulatory issues. Arvind Krishna, senior vice president of IBM hybrid cloud, said that companies were only ’10% to 20%’ into their cloud journeys, moving beyond low-end infrastructure as a service to higher business value.