Deployable architecture on IBM Cloud: Simplifying system deployment

Deployable architecture (DA) refers to a specific design pattern or approach that allows an application or system to be easily deployed and managed across various environments. A deployable architecture involves components, modules and dependencies in a way that allows for seamless deployment and makes it easy for developers and operations teams to quickly deploy new features and updates to the system, without requiring extensive manual intervention.

There are several key characteristics of a deployable architecture, which include:

1. Automation: Deployable architecture often relies on automation tools and processes to manage deployment process. This can involve using tools like continuous integration or continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, configuration management tools and others.
2. Scalability: The architecture is designed to scale horizontally or vertically to accommodate changes in workload or user demand without requiring significant changes to the underlying infrastructure.
3. Modularity: Deployable architecture follows a modular design pattern, where different components or services are isolated and can be developed, tested and deployed independently. This allows for easier management and reduces the risk of dependencies causing deployment issues.
4. Resilience: Deployable architecture is designed to be resilient, with built-in redundancy and failover mechanisms that ensure the system remains available even in the event of a failure or outage.
5. Portability: Deployable architecture is designed to be portable across different cloud environments or deployment platforms, making it easy to move the system from one environment to another as needed.
6. Customisable: Deployable architecture is designed to be customisable and can be configured according to the need. This helps in deployment in diverse environments with varying requirements.
7. Monitoring and logging: Robust monitoring and logging capabilities are built into the architecture to provide visibility into the system’s behaviour and performance.
8. Secure and compliant: Deployable architectures on IBM Cloud® are secure and compliant by default for hosting your regulated workloads in the cloud. It follows security standards and guidelines, such as IBM Cloud for Financial Services® , SOC Type 2, that ensures the highest levels of security and compliance requirements.

Overall, deployable architecture aims to make it easier for organizations to achieve faster, more reliable deployments, while also making sure that the underlying infrastructure is scalable and resilient.

Deploying an enterprise workload with a few clicks can be challenging due to various factors such as the complexity of the architecture and the specific tools and technologies used for deployment. Creating a secure, compliant and tailored application infrastructure is often more challenging and requires expertise. However, with careful planning and appropriate resources, it is feasible to automate most aspects of the deployment process. IBM Cloud provides you with well-architected patterns that are secure by default for regulated industries like financial services. Sometimes these patterns can be consumed as-is or you can add on more resources to these as per the requirements. Check out the deployable architectures that are available in the IBM Cloud catalog.

Deployable architectures provided on IBM Cloud can be deployed in multiple ways, using IBM Cloud projects, Schematics, directly via CLI or you can even download the code and deploy on your own.

Deployable architecture is commonly used in industries such as finance, healthcare, retail, manufacturing and government, where compliance, security and scalability are critical factors. Deployable architecture can be utilized by a wide range of stakeholders, including:

1. Software developers, IT professionals, system administrators and business stakeholders who need to ensure that their systems and applications are deployed efficiently, securely and cost-effectively. It helps in reducing time to market, minimizing manual intervention and decreasing deployment-related errors.
2. Cloud service providers, managed service providers and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) providers to offer their clients a streamlined, reliable and automated deployment process for their applications and services.
3. ISVs and enterprises to enhance the deployment experience for their customers, providing them with easy-to-install, customizable and scalable software solutions that helps driving business value and competitive advantage.

IBM Cloud helps in reducing the time that it takes to design the solutions that meet all of the compliance controls and regulations for your industry. The IBM Cloud Framework for Financial Services offers a set of reference architectures that can be used as a starting point for meeting the security and regulatory requirements outlined in the framework. These reference architectures provide a solid foundation for deploying secure, compliant applications within the framework. Additionally, IBM Cloud offers preconfigured VPC landing zone deployable architectures, which are built using infrastructure as code (IaC) assets based on the IBM Cloud for Financial Services reference architecture.