Unlocking innovation and efficiency: The latest enhancements to IBM Cloud platform

30 May 2025

Authors

Victoria Scott

Product Manager

Greg Effrein

Principal OM

IBM Cloud Developer Experience

Sidhya Iyer

Technical Product Manager

IBM Cloud

Nina Hawley

Content Designer

IBM Cloud is excited to announce updates to the IBM Cloud Platform experience, specifically around onboarding, solution deployment and cost management.

A smoother onboarding experience and new highlights tab on the IBM Cloud Catalog will help you find and get started easily with core IBM Cloud products. Pre-configured infrastructure architectures with built-in security and observability accelerate solutions deployment across cloud-native, AI and HPC domains so you can stay ahead of trends. Additionally, Apptio Cloudability offers transparency and visibility to optimize your spending. These updates support innovation, operational efficiency and financial transparency which makes it easier to you to leverage the full power of IBM Cloud.

IBM Cloud Catalog updates

The IBM catalog “Highlights” page is now available and features pre-built compositions of products and essential cloud services. This makes it easier for you to find the right solutions and products for your projects and get started quickly. Be sure to see what’s available in the highlights page and read about how we are simplifying the IBM Cloud Platform experience.

Onboarding to IBM Cloud

After exploring the catalog highlights tab, you can log in or sign up for an IBM Cloud account. We’ve made it easier than ever to access your IBM Cloud Account. If you have a Google or Red Hat account, you can now use those credentials to register and log in to your IBM Cloud account. Create an IBM Cloud account today and experience our latest innovations including watsonx to unlock the power of AI, IBM Quantum to explore the future of computing, and InstructLab to discover new ways to learn.

Automated solution deployment

Once you create an IBM Cloud account or log in to your existing account, you are ready to start building. Take advantage of our deployable architectures to accelerate solution deployment and management. Deployable architectures are pockets of code that automatically deploy for deploying common architectural patterns - for example, security and observability components. Read more about deployable architectures.

Cloud native and surround

IBM has expanded its cloud-native offerings with the release of a new deployable architecture in the community registry. Cloud Automation for Red Hat OpenShift AI allows users to create and configure Red Hat OpenShift clusters on a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). These clusters come pre-configured with AI capabilities, making them ideal for accelerated machine learning applications. This option also includes essential security and observability services, along with Cloud Object Storage by default.

AI

IBM Cloud released a series of base deployable architectures to the community registry that create and configure the following watsonx services. Using an IBM Cloud project, the individual deployable architectures can be combined with other IBM Cloud resources to build custom AI solutions:

IBM Software

Use Cloud automation to create and configure the below IBM software services using an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach.

HPC

You can now use IBM Spectrum LSF scheduling software and IBM Storage scale to deploy High Performance Computing (HPC) clusters.

  • IBM Spectrum LSF: Deploy a high-performance computing (HPC) cluster with IBM scheduling software for compute intensive workloads. This includes IBM Spectrum LSF scheduling software and IBM Storage Scale.

Making pre-built IA composable and customizable

The Cloud Platform team is working to make pre-built infrastructure architectures composable and customizable so you can build the right solutions for your business needs. Customize your solutions today by going to the community registry and searching products that have “Add-ons Beta” prefix in their name.

IBM Cloud lifecycle management

As you develop your solutions using projects and easy-to-use deployable architectures, IBM Cloud projects offers a powerful way to manage the entire lifecycle—from initial setup on Day 0 through ongoing operations on Day 2.

Platform teams can automate infrastructure deployment with IBM Cloud projects, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors. By providing developers with self-service access to cloud resources via IBM Cloud projects, organizations can accelerate innovation. This automation enables faster provisioning of resources, ensuring that environments are consistent and ready for development or production use. Platform teams create a scalable foundation that supports rapid development while maintaining control over infrastructure management, costs, security, and compliance—empowering both operations and development teams alike.

Learn about how platform teams can automate infrastructure deployment and provide developers with self-service capabilities, cost efficiency, and built-in security and compliance.

IBM Cloud billing updates

Apptio Integration

As cloud adoption accelerates, so does the need for precise cost visibility and optimization. That’s why integrating Apptio Cloudability with IBM Cloud is a game-changer for enterprises looking to optimize cloud spending with clarity, accountability and ease.

Apptio Cloudability is a robust cloud cost management and optimization platform that empowers organizations to track, analyze and control their cloud expenditure across providers. It transforms complex billing data into real-time insights, enabling teams to make informed decisions and optimize cloud usage without sacrificing performance.

With Apptio Cloudability, users will be able to:

  • Customize dashboards and reports: Customizable dashboards allow IBM Cloud users to consolidate spending by account, department, or service. Real-time filters and alerts enable stakeholders to catch inefficiencies early, improving accountability and reducing waste.
  • Budget and forecast: Clients can set budgets aligned to business units and get predictive insights using historical data. This allows teams to avoid overspending and maintain financial stability.
  • Create enhanced cost breakdowns: Tools like True Cost Explorer and Tag Explorer provide detailed insights by service, resource and team. Error-flagging ensures accurate tagging, enabling better workload optimization.
  • Multi-Cloud visibility: IBM Cloud spending can now be analyzed unified alongside other cloud providers. Using Cloudability Views, clients can personalize reporting for different stakeholders while setting alerts for forecasted overages.

The collaboration between IBM and Apptio brings new depth to cloud cost management. Now, IBM Cloud customers can gain enhanced visibility into their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)—breaking down spending by services, departments, projects and more.

Subscription model enhancements

Software users can now easily understand how much their software subscription is going to cost when discovering the product in the catalog.

Get started today

IBM Cloud is delivering powerful new capabilities to help you get started faster, build smarter, and manage costs more effectively. These improvements will help you unlock the full potential of IBM cloud and drive success in your projects and business. Explore these new features and transform your cloud experience.

Log into IBM Cloud today

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