Cloud Pak for Integration

Smarter, Faster, Easier with Cloud Pak for Integration 2020.2.1

Modern software offerings are often tremendously powerful. They typically have many features that never get used, not because the features aren’t useful, but because it would take too long to understand the feature, and users don’t have the time to spend to learn how to use them, when the improvements might be minimal or not directly needed to get value from the offering.

The challenge with an offering like Cloud Pak for Integration is therefore not to add new features, but to add smarter, better features. To focus on features that deliver something not just essential but offering such an improvement that it becomes a core part of using the product, with the benefits flowing clearly and easily.

We have already seen a blog about Cloud Pak for Integration 2020.2.1. This was announced back in April, but as I write we are days away from the GA – June 26^th, 2020. This is a good time for not just a reminder of what is coming but an update prompted by the announcement on June 23^rd, 2020 of some additions in the release that were not covered in the original announcement.

A reminder that in this release, we see the availability of Kubernetes Operators which are designed to help provide cloud-native style of operation, and by taking advantage of these, customers can start to exploit the power of Kubernetes for automated deployment and operation activities to enable customers to make their CI/CD pipeline goals a reality.

In addition to the Operators the new announcement calls out some additional features now available in the 2020.2.1 release that will provide real benefits. An innovative new feature is the introduction of ‘Mapping Assist’ for App Connect Designer. App Connect is our leading integration tool to enable different applications, systems and data to connect and exchange value. However, to do this, the data must be mapped between the source and targets. This can be not just time consuming, but also complex. Years of experience and sample data have allowed IBM to add AI assistance to this task and can provide suggested mappings. This rapidly accelerates this complex task, helping achieve value both faster and with potentially better outcomes.

Additionally, Cloud Pak for Integration can now take advantage of IBM Transformation Advisor. Many customers today may be getting entitlement to the Cloud Pak for Integration, but their applications are not designed for container deployment. Transformation Advisor can help provide an assessment of the level of complexity of migrating these applications and also some guidance for how to modernize these applications.

By adding these new features and capabilities into the Cloud Pak for Integration, there is increased value and it will be easier to get value from not just buying Cloud Pak for Integration but in deploying and using it as well.

Note an alternative version of this blog is here