SoftLayer
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Cloud computing |
| Predecessor | SoftLayer, Bluemix |
| Founded | 2005 (as SoftLayer) |
| Founder | Lance Crosby (SoftLayer) |
| Fate | Integrated into IBM Cloud (SoftLayer brand retired in 2018, Bluemix retired in 2017) |
| Headquarters | Armonk , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Cloud computing services including IaaS, PaaS, Kubernetes, AI, analytics, databases, developer tools |
| Owner | IBM |
| Parent | IBM |
| Website | www |
IBM Cloud (previously known as Bluemix) represents IBM's comprehensive portfolio of cloud computing solutions tailored for enterprise clients.
Services
By 2021, IBM Cloud encompassed more than 170 distinct services, spanning areas such as computing power, data storage, networking infrastructure, databases, analytics, artificial intelligence, and developer-centric tools.
SoftLayer
SoftLayer Technologies, Inc.—currently integrated into IBM Cloud—was established in 2005 as a provider specializing in dedicated servers, managed hosting, and cloud computing. IBM acquired SoftLayer in 2013. Initially catering primarily to gaming firms and startups, SoftLayer shifted its focus toward enterprise-level workloads following the acquisition.
SoftLayer was a pioneer in offering bare-metal server solutions before leading competitors such as Amazon Web Services entered the market.
Its clientele included notable companies like The Hartford, WhatsApp, Whirlpool, Daimler, and Macy's.
Timeline
- 2005: Lance Crosby and former associates founded SoftLayer.
- August 2010: Majority ownership of SoftLayer was acquired by GI Partners.
- November 2010: SoftLayer merged with rival The Planet Internet Services, unifying customers under the SoftLayer brand.
- First quarter of 2011: The company managed over 81,000 servers serving more than 26,000 clients throughout the United States.
- July 2011: Announced plans to expand internationally with data centers in Amsterdam and Singapore, supplementing existing North American facilities in Dallas, San Jose, Seattle, Houston, and Washington, D.C.. Most sites were leased through Digital Realty.
- June 4, 2013: IBM purchased SoftLayer for an undisclosed amount reportedly exceeding $2 billion and integrated it into its Cloud Services Division. At that time, SoftLayer was the largest privately owned Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider worldwide.
- May 2015: Operated a network of 23 data centers spanning 11 countries.
- 2018: The SoftLayer brand was retired and absorbed into IBM Cloud.
Initial Bluemix Launch (2013–2016)
Following the June 2013 acquisition of SoftLayer, IBM utilized its public cloud platform as the foundation for its IaaS offerings. Bluemix entered public beta in February 2014 after development commenced earlier that year. Built upon the open source Cloud Foundry framework and hosted on SoftLayer infrastructure, IBM introduced Bluemix as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution in July 2014.
By April 2015, Bluemix provided access to over 100 cloud-based development services covering areas such as social media integration, mobile applications, security features, analytics, databases, and Internet of Things (IoT). It had amassed approximately 83,000 users in India, gaining roughly 10,000 new users monthly.
Despite these gains, Bluemix trailed behind dominant cloud providers like Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS in platform adoption one year post-launch. By August 2016, its market share remained modest. In February 2016, IBM rolled out Bluemix OpenWhisk—a serverless computing platform based on the Apache OpenWhisk project—offering an event-driven Function as a Service (FaaS) comparable to Amazon Lambda and Azure Functions. This enabled developers to run code triggered by events without managing underlying infrastructure.
Transition to IBM Cloud (from 2017 onward)
In May 2017, IBM launched Kubernetes capabilities under the name IBM Bluemix Container Service, later rebranded as IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IKS). Leveraging the open source Kubernetes orchestration system, IKS competes with AWS EKS, Microsoft Azure AKS, and Google Cloud GKE by automating container deployment, scaling, and cluster management. By October 2017, IBM unified its cloud products under the IBM Cloud banner, retiring both Bluemix and SoftLayer brands. In March 2018, IBM introduced an industry-first managed Kubernetes service deployed on bare-metal infrastructure. After acquiring Red Hat in mid-2019, IBM launched managed Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud in August that year.
In November 2019, IBM unveiled the first public cloud platform designed specifically for financial services compliance and security standards, securing Bank of America as its premier client. BNP Paribas became the first European anchor customer in 2020. The IBM Cloud for Financial Services offering reached general availability in April 2021 with support for Red Hat OpenShift alongside other cloud-native technologies. Subsequently in July 2021, SAP deployed two finance and data management solutions onto this platform. In September 2021, CaixaBank advanced its digital transformation by adopting IBM Cloud for Financial Services together with a newly launched IBM Cloud Multizone Region located in Spain.
Customer base
In 2019, IBM collaborated with the USTA to implement AI-driven solutions for the US Open tournament.
By May 2020, IBM had entered into partnerships with six European firms, such as Osram and Crédit Mutuel, utilizing IBM Cloud to provide access to AI, blockchain, and advanced analytics capabilities.
Reviews
In 2020, IBM Cloud was acknowledged as a top provider in bare-metal hosting, delivering more than 11 million tailored configurations featuring the latest Power, Intel, AMD CPUs, and Nvidia GPUs.
Environmental impact
IBM announced in 2021 its goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2030.