IBM steps up open-source cloud commitment to developers

IBM has embarked on a renewed, three-pronged push into the open-source world to encourage and support developers working on business-focused cloud apps.

As part of this, Big Blue is rolling out a cloud-based collaboration platform called developerWorks Open that will provide software makers with access to IBM technologies and code to create non-proprietary apps.

Developers will also have the chance to tap up like-minded techies via the platform for help and advice during the creation of their apps.

“The goal is to enable them to act with speed and have the confidence to build and deploy open-source apps working with clients’ demanding business requirements,” said IBM in a statement.

In addition to this, IBM is planning to roll out a set of projects aimed at specific vertical markets – including healthcare, retail, mobile, insurance and banking – to support the development of open-source apps that meet their specific business needs.

The company is also set to Open Source a number of its existing applications, including parts of its enterprise-focused MobileFirst portfolio, to aid the delivery of new services to the healthcare, retail and financial services markets. 

The move is also being repeated with several of its analytics technologies, and will see these offerings made available to users of its Bluemix cloud software development platform too.

Angel Diaz, vice-president of cloud architecture and technology at IBM, said the company is keen to show its support for the open-source community, because of the important role it has to play in supporting cloud-based application development.

“We are open sourcing additional IBM innovations that we feel have the potential to grow the community and ecosystem, and eventually become established technologies,” he said.

This is far from the first attempt IBM has made to court the open-source community, as it reportedly contributes to more than 150 projects of this nature, including OpenStack and Cloud Foundry, and claims to have thousands of developers working on open-source projects.