Middleware Consulting International

ARMONK, N.Y. and BOSTON, March 29, 2023— IBM and Wasabi Technologies, the hot cloud storage company, today announced they are collaborating to drive data innovation across hybrid cloud environments. This collaboration aims to allow enterprises to run applications across any environment – on-premises, in the cloud or at the edge – and help enable users to cost efficiently access and utilize key business data and analytics in real time. The Boston Red Sox will be the first to leverage the joint power of IBM Cloud Satellite® and Wasabi hot cloud storage, designed to improve the club’s operations across its entire business.

Both IBM Cloud and Wasabi are committed to delivering resiliency, performance, security, and compliance capabilities for their clients. Wasabi hot cloud storage does not charge for egress or API requests when they want to access their data, which Wasabi reports can help with cost predictability and savings for clients. Data can be stored and accessed how and when it is needed. The hybrid cloud approach delivered with IBM Cloud Satellite, can help clients manage cloud object storage and workloads running across environments from a single control point, using innovative security and controls no matter where data is being collected, processed or shared. The Red Sox plan to leverage Wasabi hot cloud storage across its hybrid cloud infrastructure while piloting IBM Cloud Satellite to house data including player video, analytics, surveillance data, IoT, and more, across Fenway Park and bring the flexibility and agility of public cloud services to its secured on-premises data center.

“Our critical data is growing at an incredible rate, so our organization is prioritizing a cost-effective and scalable approach to leverage cloud technology,” said Brian Shield, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Boston Red Sox. “The performance and cost reliability Wasabi delivers have already been advantageous for the Red Sox, and with the addition of IBM hybrid cloud technology we hope to take our digital initiatives to the next level. All of that ultimately funnels back to delivering a best-in-class fan experience.”

Through IBM Cloud and Wasabi, clients across all industries can take advantage of extended secured and open cloud services to help transform applications and workflows, managing security across any environment. This allows enterprises to store and access their data whether on-premises, in the cloud or at the edge.

“Wasabi is on a mission to store all the world’s data. Organizations storing an enormous amount of data, including sports organizations, need to be able to store it in an affordable, accessible way without being locked into a single vendor with exorbitant fees,” said David Friend, co-founder and chief executive officer, Wasabi Technologies. “Collaborating with IBM demonstrates Wasabi’s commitment in the cloud storage market and gives our customers a better way of managing their data cross locations.”

“In today’s digital-first world, data can be an organization’s greatest asset – empowering them with valuable insights that can transform business. Our collaboration with Wasabi technology will allow clients to re-imagine business processes enabled by data, while focusing on resiliency, performance, security and compliance. We are helping organizations across all industries, even those that are highly regulated, uncover game-changing insights from any environment, without sacrificing security,” said Howard Boville, Head of IBM Hybrid Cloud Platform.

For more information about IBM Cloud Satellite visit: https://www.ibm.com/cloud/satellite.

San Sebastian, March 24th, 2023. Fundación Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science in the Basque Country of Spain, and IBM today presented details of how they are partnering to further establish the Basque Country as a leading technology hub. This includes the adoption of quantum computing through the launch of the IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center, which will provide Qiskit Runtime services from a 127-qubit IBM Quantum System One located in San Sebastian and managed by IBM.

IBM and IkerBasque share a common mission on the role of quantum computing as a key element of the Basque Country Government’s Ikur 2030 vision for quantum technologies. This initiative aims to advance quantum research, build a quantum workforce, promote economic development, and provide the necessary quantum computing infrastructure to achieve those goals. The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center will promote the use of advanced technology across all the Basque Country Government and the General Deputations (Araba, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa), further elevating research institutions by expanding international research collaborations, performing world-class fundamental scientific research, and increasing the quantum-trained talent in the region.

To achieve these goals, the new IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center will focus on collaborations in crucial areas such as materials research, to develop a world-class, leading quantum ecosystem in Southern Europe that will leverage the strengths of its provinces to drive the advancement of science and technology.

This IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center will provide computational infrastructure for researchers from Ikerbasque Foundation and its partners to help researchers meet these goals. Researchers will be able to run quantum programs to explore complex problems, including the modeling of new materials and how quantum computing can be used as part of broader sustainability efforts. The IBM Qiskit Runtime services made available via this collaboration will leverage an IBM Quantum System One to be deployed at the Ikerbasque building located in San Sebastian (Guipuzkoa – Spain). This new center represents a further step in promoting technology development in the region to expand the horizons of computation.

IBM and Ikerbasque will also collaborate to develop workforce programs aimed at building and establishing world-class talent in the Basque Country. The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center programs will drive internal and external awareness, education, and skill building through the development of immersive and integrated learning programs.

“It is very risky to say what the future of quantum computers will bring us. Nobody knows for sure. What we do know for sure is that the Basque Country must be prepared for the future. It is essential to be in a good starting position for when the situation requires it. Euskadi joins today, a select group of IBM Quantum Computational Centers. We will actively collaborate with this Network and we will contribute all our knowledge to continue developing this technology. IBM’s commitment to the Basque Country reflects a new recognition of our science, technology and innovation system. The Basque Country believes in science and invests in it. We do so, convinced that our welfare will come through progress, through scientific advances,” assured the President of the Basque Country Government, Mr. Iñigo Urkullu.

“The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center is further proof of our commitment in building open communities of innovation to tackle the most challenging problems of our time,” said Dr. Darío Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, IBM. “This partnership will bring to bear the full scope of IBM’s quantum technologies to The Basque Country’s world-class scientific and industrial communities. We are proud to be working with the Government of The Basque Country, as well as private sector and academic partners, to take innovation in Spain to the next level.”

The IBM-Euskadi Quantum Computational Center is the second such IBM Quantum Computational Center to be announced in Europe. Ikerbasque will join the more than 200 members of the IBM Quantum Network, a global community of Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, academic institutions, and research labs working to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications. These leading institutions have access to IBM’s Quantum-as-a-Service computing resources. Since 2016, IBM has deployed over 60 quantum computers for external use. There are now more than 20 quantum computing systems, including the 433-qubit IBM Osprey processor.

T-Systems will now have the ability to provide its customers with cloud access to IBM’s quantum systems, including multiple quantum computers powered by the 127-qubit IBM Eagle processor. Quantum computing aims to enable calculations that are beyond the means of even the world’s most advanced classical supercomputers.  This announcement sees the Deutsche Telekom IT subsidiary embark on the path to providing access to this technology, as well as insights on how it can be applicable to its customers’ businesses. In addition, T-Systems will offer dedicated quantum know-how and training.

Customers will have access to T-Systems quantum services tailored to their needs, in a set of different customizable packages. These range from one-day introductory sessions, through to business case proofs-of-concept over several months. The use of IBM Quantum computational resources over the cloud — including Qiskit Runtime, which allows for the optimization and efficient execution of workloads on quantum systems at scale — together with T-Systems’ services, will lower the barrier to quantum computing. This will allow T-Systems to develop and test customers’ use-cases and prepare them for a future with quantum computing. T-Systems aims to host its own quantum infrastructure in the future, assisted by IBM.

Accelerating progress towards tomorrow’s solutions

Quantum computing is a rapidly emerging technology that harnesses the laws of quantum mechanics to solve problems that today’s most powerful supercomputers cannot practically solve.

By integrating quantum computing into their portfolio, T-Systems aims to further leverage their leadership position in advisory, cloud services and digital solutions beyond the local markets in key focus industries. The ultimate goal is to provide clients with a seamless experience, incorporated into their cloud landscape, as they look to uncover the potential of quantum computing for their businesses.

“Quantum computing will be central to tomorrow’s IT landscape. We are combining quantum and classical computing in a seamless and scalable customer experience.” states Adel Al-Saleh, Deutsche Telekom board member and Chief Executive of T-Systems. “Taking these first decisive steps will lower the access barrier to quantum computing.” IBM has an established track record in quantum computing leadership. The company offers the world’s largest fleet of quantum computers, accessible over the cloud. Al-Saleh continues: “In IBM, we have a trusted partner to deliver this future technology. It is a perfect match for our industry focus and expertise.”

“Organizations around the world are beginning to explore how quantum computing will impact their industry and business. By partnering with T-Systems as a cloud provider, we will be able to offer access to quantum technology to an even broader ecosystem. Our team at IBM is excited to support T-Systems’ and their customers’ exploration of, and aspirations for quantum applications for their business operations,” says Scott Crowder, Vice President, IBM Quantum Adoption and Business Development.

LONDON, 8 March 2023. The EY organization (EY) and IBM today announce a global collaboration to focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) solutions that aim to help organizations accelerate business transformation with value-led sustainability. EY and IBM teams will pursue innovative offerings that help integrate sustainability with business strategy, support the operationalization of their programs with speed and scale, and transform how value is created for their business, their stakeholders, their people and the planet.

EY teams bring extensive experience advising organizations on sustainability strategies and transformation, while IBM offers innovative technology capabilities, and a portfolio of software to measure, deliver and report against sustainability goals. Both industry leaders are working to address the enormous complexities of ESG data by bringing deep understanding of emerging data standards.

EY and IBM teams plan to provide offerings orchestrated with leading technologies such as hyperscaler public cloud or ERP systems-of-record. To meet client preferences across diverse hybrid IT landscapes, collaborative offerings are planned to include:

• Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions accounting and management
• ESG Managed Services
• EY Sustainable Enterprise Asset Management (SEAM) tool for scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon capture, analysis and decision support

This collaboration is expected to leverage the EY organization’s leading Climate Change and Sustainability Services and Technology Consulting practices, along with IBM’s software including the IBM Envizi ESG Suite, IBM Environmental Intelligence Suite, IBM Maximo Application Suite, IBM TRIRIGA Application Suite, IBM Turbonomic Application Resource Management (ARM)  and IBM Supply Chain Intelligence Suite, to create a set of frameworks and accelerators to help companies operationalize decarbonization action plans at the asset level.

EY and IBM teams are already collaborating in many ways to deliver value-led sustainability, including:

• EY SEAM tool, leveraging IBM Maximo Application Suite, helps organizations capture and calculate carbon emissions data, report it according to regulations and set targets to drive action. The tool can be used on any public cloud to support organizations in asset- heavy industries such as civil infrastructure, telecom, energy, mobility and manufacturing.
• EY Sustainable Travel Approval Tool (STAT), developed in collaboration with IBM Consulting, is designed to encourage employees to book more sustainable travel choices and support an organizations’ carbon ambition by providing users with greater visibility to both the financial and carbon footprint impact of business travel. Since its launch within the EY organization across 41 markets, the tool has considerably cut one-day travel down from 18% to 3% of total trips, and increased train rail bookings to 36% compared to 10% in FY19, in countries where train rail is a viable option.

Steve Varley, EY Global Vice Chair – Sustainability, says:

“In order for organizations to address an ever-evolving set of ESG challenges, solutions must be delivered and deployable at a faster pace than ever before. The value of this deepened and longstanding alliance is in how it leverages the consulting and technology capabilities of both EY and IBM teams, to be at the forefront of how clients plan and accelerate their ESG journey and build trust with their most critical stakeholders.”

Kareem Yusuf, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Product Management & Growth, IBM Software, says:

“A global energy crisis, rising costs and new regulations are among the ongoing and increasing challenges organizations face as they act to deliver upon their sustainability goals while still balancing revenue, risk and driving shareholder returns. IBM’s expanded collaboration with EY is a critical step forward in helping our joint clients accelerate their most pressing sustainability and business objectives.”

This work builds on the EY organization and IBM’s ongoing collaboration including the recent launch of Talent Center of Excellence and the EY-IBM Center of Excellence for Financial Services.

NEW YORK, March 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — IBM and Cohesity today announced a new collaboration to address the critical need organizations have for increased data security and resiliency in hybrid cloud environments. Combining data protection, cyber resilience, and data management capabilities from both companies, IBM will launch its new IBM Storage Defender solution which will include Cohesity’s data protection as an integral part of the offering. IBM Storage Defender is being designed to leverage AI and event monitoring across multiple storage platforms through a single pane of glass to help protect organizations’ data layer from risks like ransomware, human error, and sabotage. Additionally, it will feature cyber vault and clean room features with automated recovery functions to help companies restore business-critical data in hours or minutes from what used to take days.

The most recent Cost of a Data Breach Report released by IBM Security revealed costlier and higher-impact data breaches than ever before, with the global average cost of a data breach reaching an all-time high of $4.35 million for studied organizations and increasing nearly 13% over the last two years of the report.1 The report also showcased hybrid cloud environments as the most prevalent (45%) infrastructure amongst organizations studied. Averaging $3.8 million in breach costs, businesses that adopted a hybrid cloud model observed lower breach costs compared to businesses with a solely public or private cloud model, which experienced $5.02 million and $4.24 million on average respectively.

IBM Storage Defender is being architected to give clients the ability to rapidly find their most recent clean copy of data. It is IBM’s first offering to bring together multiple IBM and third-party solutions unifying primary, secondary replication, and backup management. Leveraging advanced storage capabilities, such as IBM Storage FlashSystem Safeguarded Copy for logical air gap, can help companies recover their most mission critical data within hours in the event of an attack. The first of such ecosystem integrations, Cohesity brings world class virtual machine protection managed in the hybrid cloud. Cohesity on-premises cluster managed with a cloud-based control plane supports a multi-vendor strategy optimized for data recovery to improve business continuity.

IBM Storage Defender will include:

• IBM Storage Protect (formerly IBM Spectrum Protect): comprehensive data resilience for physical file servers, virtual environments, and a wide range of applications (including SaaS-based workloads), where organizations can scale up to manage billions of objects per backup server.
• IBM Storage FlashSystem: a cyber-resilient, all-flash and hybrid storage platform for performance and capacity-intensive workloads.
• IBM Storage Fusion: container-native storage and data orchestration for Red Hat OpenShift for modern and next generation applications.
• Cohesity DataProtect: comprehensive protection for both traditional and modern data sources on a multicloud platform. Cohesity DataProtect is engineered so that clients can instantly recover at scale, across environments. Cohesity DataProtect positions clients to copy and store data in multiple locations in onsite or offsite servers, or in multiple clouds. This helps to ensure that an up to date and accurate copy of data is available in case of cyber security breach or disaster – whether naturally occurring or through human error.

“Data protection solutions like IBM Storage Defender are designed to support the deployment diversity, virtualization, containerization, and self-service that are among the requirements of the modern data center,” said Phil Goodwin, Research Vice President, IDC. “Together, IBM and Cohesity are combining their capabilities to build a foundation to reduce data fragmentation, maximize availability, and improve business resiliency for companies’ hybrid cloud environments.”

By integrating Cohesity with IBM Storage Defender, IBM clients gain new modern scale out architecture secured-by-design, as well as easy SaaS-based cyber vaulting capabilities. IBM Storage Defender will allow companies to take advantage of their existing IBM investments while significantly simplifying operations and reducing operating expenses.

“Protecting against ransomware and other forms of malware requires a layered approach to data resiliency that involves early detection, automated protection, and rapid recovery,” said Denis Kennelly, General Manager, IBM Storage. “Fighting sophisticated threats to data is a team sport. When we looked at the overall market, we were impressed by the Cohesity platform and team’s differentiated focus on scalability, simplicity, and security. By integrating our leading software-defined technologies, I am excited to bring essential cyber resiliency capabilities to IBM clients. Cyberattacks are on the rise, but data can be protected and restored when you are prepared.”

A client’s data is a uniquely valuable resource and can be a significant competitive advantage. But with more data, the more complex it is to manage. With rapidly increasing ransomware and other cyber threats, data is more valuable than ever. The combination of IBM and Cohesity brings a transformational, yet radically simple approach to cyber resilient data security and management. This includes the ability to manage everything in one place, leveraging a zero trust approach built to help detect, protect, and rapidly recover from ransomware attacks, and using built-in, AI-powered decision-making to facilitate action.

“We have deep respect for IBM’s brand and reputation in the market. Cohesity’s technology leadership position in data security and management, combined with IBM’s impressive storage portfolio, forward-looking vision, global reach, and client intimacy will allow clients to benefit from the best of Cohesity and IBM brought together,” said Sanjay Poonen, CEO and President, Cohesity. “We’re honored and pleased to work with IBM to help organizations strengthen their cyber resilience in the face of evolving sophisticated adversaries, and look forward to building the relationship to benefit many clients across the world.”

IBM plans to make the new IBM Storage Defender solution available in the second calendar quarter of 2023 beginning with IBM Storage Protect and Cohesity DataProtect. IBM Storage Defender will be sold and supported by IBM as well as through authorized IBM Business Partners.