I'm excited to announce the debut of this new offering "IBM WebSphere Application Server for VSI", or "WAS for VSI", as a new IBM Cloud software tile, available to the public on November 20, 2020.
VSI stands for Virtual Server Instance which is equivalent to Virtual Machine, and the software tile is hosted on IBM Cloud and is a convenience to WebSphere/Liberty customers who already have a WebSphere license - it automates the WebSphere installation on the Virtual Machines of WAS customers. It embraces a bring your own license model, meaning the customers either have a license already or acquire one prior to using this installer through an IBM sales channel (typically F2F, via DSW PA), and the means of acquiring the WAS license is here: https://www.ibm.com/cloud/websphere-application-server
This tool provides great convenience to WAS customers on premises or on other Clouds, because it leverages the Terraform open source technology to facilitate and better the install experience. Normally the customers would go to IBM Cloud and install the WAS/Liberty server manually, and the process may take hours depending on how familiar the customer is with WAS, and the customer needs to spend a lot of time to read the instructions before installing. However, with this free software tile, it only requires the customers to simply input several parameters, such as the type, version of the WAS/Liberty, and credentials for their VSI to initiate the install process, and on average it takes only 20-30 minutes, while everything will be logged in the IBM Cloud logging console.
For new WAS users, it is a simple and express way to onboard IBM Cloud, the customers can have WAS/Liberty running on IBM Cloud in no time. For existing WAS users, we provide various migration paths for them, including IBM Transformation Advisor (https://www.ibm.com/garage/method/practices/learn/ibm-transformation-advisor), IBM Mono2Micro (https://ibm.biz/Mono2Micro for complicated applications including WAS/Liberty), IBM WebSphere Application Server Migration Tool, (https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSAW57_9.0.5/com.ibm.websphere.migration.nd.doc/ae/tmig_admin.html) among other methods. (More general app mod guidance: https://developer.ibm.com/solutions/application-modernization/)
We encourage the WAS customers to onboard WAS for VSI and leverage the benefits of IBM Cloud, but also believe there is a lot of other services and software to offer on IBM Cloud to enrich your VSI experience. Feel free to try WAS for VSI at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/was-for-vsi?topic=was-for-vsi-getting-started
If you need any help with deals or need more information - Please contact me or the WAS Offering Management team.
Best Regards,
Daniel Y. Xu.
Offering Manager, IBM Cloud