When Compare the Cloud was invited to speak at the Red Hat Summit in San Francisco, of course we graciously accepted. The topic? Next-generation applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Enterprise Platforms.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Although the topic was vast the panel honed in on key discussion points that I will elaborate on.” hashtags=”IBM, Apps”]

The format was a 45 minute panel discussion with Al Gillen (IDC), Jim Wasko (IBM) and myself (good looking one 2nd from the left), chaired by Mary Hall (IBM).

A lively debate followed with discussions based around the main theme of enterprise application delivery through Red Hat Linux and IBM LinuxOne infrastructure. Although the topic was vast, the panel honed in on a few key discussion points that I will elaborate on.

Developing the Next Killer App

How can you achieve true scalability with that “killer app” without degradation of performance and security? With pretty much the majority of infrastructure running Linux (various flavours) today, you need the core backbone (technical infrastructure) to be scalable with the ability to run at full capacity without faltering services or outages when peak usage bursts are apparent. However, this flexibility is great for performance, and for the wallet. Rigid security is also key – Enter IBM’s LinuxOne architecture! Built upon the same principles as their Mainframe technology, the LinuxONE environments are purpose built Linux powerhouses in a box. One such environment can cater to over 7,000 Linux virtual machines with the tightest security available that can run at 100 percent utilisation without any degradation of service. One would think that such a product range is too good to be true but it is indeed veracious and they offer more or less of what you require depending on your needs and requirements.

Moving on from the obvious good fit for this topic, the audience was quizzed on their thoughts as to how they see enterprise technology fitting with the next unicorn application. There were some interesting responses and the main retort was based around how to develop said unicorn that can scale without costing an arm or leg. Again, this played right into the hands of IBM’s product offerings as they now offer free public access to a development environment to test and configure Linux based VM’s. However, in the words of a shopping channel commercial – That’s not all – you have access to ready made VM templates that give you the option of different flavours of Linux (Red Hat being the focus during the session). Additionally IBM have a suite of software products that can assist with the creation and deployment of your unicorn code in the form of IBM Bluemix which can also be trialled for free!

Open Source Development

IBM is certainly changing with a big focus on assisting Open Source development of applications as well as the delivery and I still find it hard to believe that it’s free! Never has there been a better time to pick up that code book and create the next billion dollar application, cheaply, securely, and have the flexibility of a Hybrid Cloud approach of traditional technology. The LinuxONE environment could just be the new normal in the future with all of these benefits rolled into one distinct package that provides the most secure environment available which is not just needed for external attacks but in this day and age – protecting your Intellectual property that could/would make you a billionaire.

[easy-tweet tweet=”#IBM is certainly changing with a big focus on assisting Open Source development of applications” hashtags=”tech”]

In summary for the Red Hat Summit (not just our discussions) there seemed to be two major trends that were prevalent throughout the few days, Environment Monitoring and Performance and Security. These are major trends in the industry right now and a myriad of vendors are riding the bandwagon to success. We are in the age of the constant evolution of technology that is being spurned on from the constant evolution of entrepreneurship. Come on, let’s start coding and create something really special!

To test drive IBM LinuxONE for 120 days, sign up for a test drive here.

To learn more about the Top IT Trends for 2016, read IBM’s Enterprise Linux Insights blog.