Free Access to IBM Bluemix, a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

IBM Bluemix!

Bluemix (https://ibm.biz/bluemix4kids) is an open-standards, cloud-based platform to build, manage, and run apps of all types, including Web, Mobile, Big data, Smart devices - and many more. Bluemix offers a single solution environment with the instant resources (e.g. sample code) and infrastructure (e.g. services and runtimes) you need to develop and deploy apps.

If you're a developer, you now have a hand in creating the future. Bluemix offers you all the instant services, runtimes, and infrastructure you need to push your ideas into the present.

What is IBM Bluemix
(Quoted from http://www-01.ibm.com/software/ebusiness/jstart/bluemix/)

Bluemix is an implementation of IBM’s Open Cloud Architecture, leveraging Cloud Foundry to enable developers to rapidly build, deploy, and manage their cloud applications, while tapping a growing ecosystem of available services and runtime frameworks. IBM will provide services and runtimes into the ecosystem based on our extensive software portfolio.

In practical terms, this means that cloud applications built on Bluemix will:


 * Reduce time for application/infrastructure provisioning
 * Allow for flexible capacity
 * Help to address any lack of internal tech resources
 * Reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
 * Accelerate exploration of new workloads – social, mobile, big data

Enabling the transition
Part of any open cloud environment deployment includes cloud workloads and capabilities that are available within the cloud. IBM has been working to enable key functionality in the cloud based on early customer engagements as well as input from developers.

Bluemix: Making a difference in the cloud
When IBM envisioned Bluemix, we envisioned a system which would answer the needs and challenges facing developers while at the same time empowering and enabling businesses to leverage their resources in the most efficient way possible. And we wanted to create a system that could do this in concrete ways.

For developers
This meant that we wanted a system that would significantly reduce the time needed to create the application, to provision it, allow for flexible capacity in terms of storage, but also bandwidth and processing power, and which would handle the back-end infrastructure needs without requiring the developer to spend their valuable time doing so--in other words, allow developers to concentrate on doing what they do best--being creative and developing top quality applications.

IBM STEM Action Community call

 * * IBM CoderDojo Champions spoke briefly on an IBM STEM Action Community call which 400 IBMers from around the world joined! See the slides from the call here: [[File:IBM STEM Action Community.ppt]]