Introducing the third generation of IBM Db2 as a Service: Revolutionizing cloud database management with VPC Gen 2 support

We are proud to announce the launch of the third generation of IBM Db2 as a Service, formerly known as IBM Db2 on Cloud. This is a major milestone in our online transaction processing (OLTP) database service offering and the next step in our journey to provide robust, scalable and intelligent data solutions to meet the demands of modern enterprises.

This latest generation of Db2 as a Service delivers a new plan with support for IBM Db2 12.1 and VPC Gen 2 and enhancements are designed to deliver improved scalability, flexibility and simplicity, making it easier than ever to modernize applications.

Our new plan is built on IBM Cloud® Virtual Servers for VPC Gen 2, leveraging better performant infrastructure to deliver exceptional speed, capacity and reliability.

Here's what makes this plan stand out:

• Enhanced network capacity: Network capacity of up to 25 Gbps, enabling faster data transfers and improved application responsiveness.
• High-performance compute: Support for 128 vCPUs and 1TB memory, providing the power to handle even the most demanding workloads.
• Customizable environments: Tailor environment with customizable DBM and profile registry variables to suit unique requirements.
• Improved integration: Take advantage of improved integration features like Terraform and VPE, as well as support for customer-specified maintenance windows for better operational control.

• Secure connectivity: Support for virtual private endpoints ensures secure, private connectivity for your applications.
• High availability: Enjoy robust availability with up to 2 HA nodes and one  DR-read replica node, ensuring seamless operations and data reliability

• Cost efficient pricing: IOPS-based storage pricing lets customers pay for performance tailored to their workload requirements and expand storage up to 40 TB, with independent scaling of storage performance up to 196K IOPS.
• Advanced backup features: Simplify migrations with the ability to restore customer-provided backups, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition to the cloud. Also comes with snapshot-based backups with PITR minimize downtime during backups with point-in-time recovery (PITR), reducing operational impacts while enhancing data safety.

Market forces are driving the need for enterprise applications to move their data to cloud and take advantage of the software as a service (SaaS) model. By 2025, Gartner predicts that cloud-native platforms will serve as the foundation for more than 95% of new digital initiatives. Below are some of the benefits of moving to Db2 SaaS:

• Fully managed: Focus on your applications. Db2 SaaS is fully managed, so customers can offload operations to IBM Cloud, available 24x7. You can also automate administrative tasks such as migrations, provisioning, backup and restore, software patching and more.
• Scalable: Take advantage of independent scaling of compute and storage and easily set your scaling schedule and control your cloud costs with a push of a button.
• Highly available and reliable: Keep critical applications always-on with high availability and automated multi-AZ data replication. Deploy HA nodes to achieve ultimate redundancy, availability and scalability.
• Durable: Keep applications resilient with automated backups and point-in-time recovery
• Like-for-like modernization: On-premise Db2 database customers can seamlessly modernize to IBM Cloud using the familiar code, features and tools within their existing Db2 database without schema conversions or disruptions to existing applications.

Successful cloud migrations require a comprehensive strategy that lays out goals and anticipates challenges. One of these challenges to any cloud modernization project is developing skills in cloud-native technologies. Having to invest in training staff to become familiar with cloud-native technologies can significantly increase the cost, complexity and timeline of any cloud modernization project. By using IBM Db2 as a Service, this challenge is eliminated by reducing requirement for skills like cloud infrastructure and Kubernetes, leading to a faster ROI. This leaves staff free to focus on developing other skills that can provide further competitive advantages.

IBM Db2 as a Service is built from the ground up to incorporate the very best of IBM Db2’s cloud-native technologies. This foundation, managed on behalf of the client, enables all the benefits of cloud modernization, but without the operational or skills acquisition overheads. These updates reinforce Db2 SaaS as a cornerstone for application modernization, empowering enterprises to harness Db2's full potential with ease, efficiency and scalability.

We’re thrilled to see how our customers will use these new capabilities to drive their businesses forward. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to innovate and evolve Db2 SaaS to meet the needs of the next generation of enterprise workloads.

Ready to explore Db2 SaaS third generation? Try our new plan to experience the next generation of database management.

For more details, check out the IBM Db2 as a Service documentation to see all its features and capabilities.