Open source giant Red Hat has announced a series of industry partnerships that aim to make it easier for companies to develop container-based applications.

The first of these is a strategic deal with IBM that will see the companies combine their portfolios to offer new hybrid cloud services to their customers.

The agreement, announced at Red Hat’s annual Summit this week, means it’s now possible for customers of both companies to build and deploy applications using IBM’s Cloud service supported by Red Hat’s OpenShift Container platform. IBM’s WebSphere, DB2 and MQ software products will now be repackaged as certified containers on OpenShift.

It’s yet another deal struck in an ongoing partnership between the companies after a recent commitment by IBM to re-engineer its portfolio of software products to run using the increasingly popular container deployment.

A similar deal announced at the Summit will also see the creation of the industry’s first jointly managed container platform using Red Hat’s OpenShift software on Microsoft’s Azure environment, which includes access to Azure SQL DB and Azure Machine Learning. This builds upon a previous commitment signed in 2015 to bring more Red Hat products to Microsoft’s Azure platforms.

The aim of both agreements is to provide businesses with greater mobility when it comes to application deployment. An alternative to virtual machines, containers provide a means of bundling an application with all its software dependencies into a single package, bypassing the problem of incompatible environments when moving applications to different stages of testing or deployment.

IBM’s shift to containerisation will see its Cloud Private and Cloud Private for Data platforms, as well as a number of middleware products, become Red Hat-certified containers.

A joint consultancy unit will be set up linking both IBM Garage and Red Hat Consulting, which will support those customers either wishing to test out the combined service or looking to move their existing application investments to a hybrid model.

Arvind Krishna, senior vice president of IBM Hybrid Cloud, said that the move would provide «more choice and flexibility» to customers looking to move towards containered applications.

«Our common vision for hybrid cloud using container architectures allows millions of enterprises – from banks, to airlines, to government organizations – to access leading technology from both companies without having to choose between public and private cloud,» Krishna said.

By combining services, Red Hat customers will now be able to exploit well established cloud-based artificial intelligence, IoT, and blockchain tools provided by IBM.

As for the Microsoft partnership, Red Hat claims customers will be provided with a consistent experience throughout the development lifecycle of an application, including support for OpenShift on Microsoft’s on-premise platform Azure Stack, through to deployment in a hybrid cloud.

Visual Studio subscribers will also get Red Hat Linux credits for the first time, allowing developers to work from a single platform regardless of the open source framework they choose.

Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise group, said: «Today, we’re combining both companies’ leadership in Kubernetes, hybrid cloud and enterprise operating systems to simplify the complex process of container management, with an industry-first solution on Azure.»

In a separate but related announcement this week, IBM also said its PowerAI platform, a suite of deep learning frameworks, will also be available through Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

Those organisations with eligible subscriptions can access their Red Hat OpenShift Container accounts on IBM’s Cloud platform using the Red Hat Cloud Access tool.

The joint Azure and OpenShift service is currently in a preview state, and will eventually be rolled out on a region by region basis.

Image: Shutterstock

The startup scene has become one of today’s most exciting and fluid industries to be a part of. The constant stream of innovative and disruptive ideas coming from east London, Manchester and Bristol – to name a just a few cities full of entrepreneurs – has transformed the way modern business is conducted, and there is scarcely an industry that hasn’t been revolutionised in some way by an upstart with a small team and a big idea.

There’s plenty that established enterprises can learn from what startups are doing, so let’s look at exactly what makes ‘the next big thing’ the next big thing.

A unique idea is an easy sell

Despite Uber’s chequered history, its success proves that a unique idea sells. Many startups today are almost guaranteed to succeed – at least initially – purely because the idea they have is so strong. While the concept of ride-hailing existed previously, Uber married it with an easy-to-use smartphone app, producing a multi-billion dollar product.

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Make it cheaper and simpler

Some startups aren’t able to rely on a unique idea – instead they focus on creating something that’s more marketable. The virtual and augmented reality industries were near non-existent a few years ago, yet today the likes of Microsoft, HTC, Sony and Samsung are all competing for control of a highly lucrative market. Instead of joining that fight, startup firm Mira has created an AR kit that’s cheap enough for the mass market, and simple enough to use with your smartphone, earning itself a place on many lists as a firm to watch.

Attract investment by attracting talent

A sure way to generate interest in a new idea is to showcase the talent that’s behind it. Startups such as self-driving car company Aurora, or analyst firm Periscope Data, may be categorised as ‘new companies’, but in reality their teams are a collection of former talent from some of the world’s largest companies, including Google, Box, Microsoft, Tesla and Uber.

It’s this careful selection of minds, brought together to achieve something brand new and innovative, that excites investors – and it forms a significant part of their sales pitch.

Be savvy about social media

Attracting investors to an idea is one thing, but building a loyal customer base is something else entirely. A great deal of startups to watch in 2018 aren’t necessarily doing anything particularly disruptive, nor do they have entirely unique ideas. What makes them stand out is their superb ability to speak the language of their audience.

The most backed project ever on Kickstarter remains a fairly simple card game known as ‘Exploding Kittens’ that managed to raise nearly $9 million across more than 200,000 backers. Aside from a sensational name, the game’s creators, which include former Xbox chief design officer Elan Lee, produced a superb marketing campaign, creating animations and videos that could be easily shared on social media, targeted at those who wanted something that was easy to play, but risque enough to be hit among groups of friends. It also appeared around the same time as the similarly successful Cards Against Humanity series, and was able to capitalise on customer appetite for the genre.

Refine your idea for the target audience

You don’t need to have a mass audience to be a disruptive force in the startup industry. In fact, some of the most exciting projects in 2018 are those that are highly specialised. One to watch this year is Shippo, a startup that aims to provide small to medium-sized businesses with Amazon-like shipping capabilities. It’s a partnership borne out of necessity, as many businesses have suffered as a result of Amazon’s Prime next day delivery service, which offers unrivalled convenience to customers.

Shippo’s platform allows customers to compare routes, times, and prices from private delivery companies, such as FedEx and UPS, and has even developed an API that can be integrated into a business’s network. It’s an example of a startup accurately identifying a precise problem, and working with the rest of the industry for the benefit of its customers.

Be imaginative with funding

No matter the company, and regardless of how great an idea is, every startup needs two things: funding and a guiding hand. One of the reasons why innovative British banking startup Revolut made many lists of companies to look out for was not only down to its superb product, but because of its diverse funding portfolio.

Revolut’s launch was bolstered by an initial $10 million investment as part of its association with European investment firm Seedcamp, later achieving a further $66 million in series B funding. Yet it also allowed customers to participate in its series A funding round, putting £1 million in equity up for grabs. Perhaps even more important than the money it generated was the buzz this created among potential customers.

Being quirky in a saturated market

It’s very easy for startups to drown in oversaturated markets. With so many new companies entering the field at once, you’re almost guaranteed to find more than one provider offering similar solutions to a single problem.

To thrive, startups need to stand out. For example, there are a number of startups within the cosmetics industry that alternative products to those offered in stores, yet Function of Beauty is a company allowing customers to create bespoke shampoos and conditioners based on the type of hair they have. Customers also receive their creations in personalised bottles, meaning each product is entirely unique. It’s this incredible attention to detail that has made it a startup success worth over $110 million today.

Be receptive to feedback

The startup industry can be as unforgiving as it is lucrative – there’s far greater pressure on companies getting products right early on than in traditional enterprise, and if something goes wrong, it’s near impossible to recover.

Successful startups therefore listen to their customers very carefully, and in some instances, invite them to participate in the design process. Airbnb, one of the industry’s biggest success stories, was able to triple its user base by simply hosting an afternoon session with early backers to listen to feedback on its platform. It’s a proactive style of customer interaction that investors admire, rather than asking for feedback once a product breaks.

Get creative with your business operations

A major advantage of brand new, relatively small companies is that you can be inventive with the way your business operates. Zapier, a workflow automation startup, is highly unusual in that it’s never established a company headquarters and its workforce operates entirely remotely. Not only does this mean it’s able to hire people easily from anywhere in the world, it also has none of the overhead costs of a traditional business.

Last year the company made an even bolder move by setting aside a $10,000 “de-location” package in order to incentivise employees to move away from the incredibly expensive Silicon Valley area.

Respond quickly to market trends

Perhaps the biggest edge startups have over traditional businesses is their ability to respond quickly to new market demands. In fact, the unprecedented growth of recent technology trends such as AI and the internet of things has been underpinned by the work of startups.

For example, Chicago-based IoT firm Uptake, which reached its $2 billion valuation faster than any other startup, is able to gather and analyse data from connected machinery and sensors. This means that traditional companies can take advantage of improved efficiency of smart hardware, without having to hire the expertise needed to interpret data.

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Hangouts Chat, Google’s answer to highly popular collaboration tool Slack, has been taken out of its beta phase and made generally available to all users through the G Suite platform.

Both Hangouts Chat and its video streaming platform, Hangouts Meet, were revealed at Google Cloud Next conference in March last year, but while the latter was released immediately to the public, its chat app has so far only been available as a private test version.

The newly released service works in essentially the same way as Slack or Microsoft Teams, offering a means for users to engage in group or private chats, only within the G Suite environment. As you might expect, the app works closely alongside Google’s host of other services, including the option to launch video chats through Hangouts Meet, share content through Drive, and collaborate through the Docs app. It also supports up to 28 languages and can hold up to 8,000 members in each chat room.

Much like Slack, Google has also opened up the platform for those wanting to develop bots, with RingCentral, Salesforce, Kayak, Trello, and Xero, to name a few, having already released AI plugins for the service.

The problem for Google is that the collaboration market has become a fiercely contested arena, and those organisations that have already adopted existing services could be reluctant to make the switch given the disruption that may cause.

Much like Microsoft’s Teams app and its integrations with Office 365, Google will be relying on the fact Hangouts Chat is built into the G Suite platform and will be able to take advantage of all the tools on offer, including its built-in security, all available through a single subscription.

In February the company announced it was upgrading the hardware it offers as part of its Hangouts Meet service, including a new camera that allows users to accommodate rooms of up to 20 people, and a better quality mic system that can be daisy-chained together to speakers in different rooms.

Hangouts Chat will be slowly rolled out to G Suite customers over the next seven days. Alongside the rollout, Google announced it’s bringing Drive’s Quick Access feature to Docs, an AI tool that recommends files based on activity and information found in your other documents.

The company also said that the Calendar app will soon get a similar AI-powered recommendation tool to help book meeting rooms based on your building, floor you work on, and booking history, a feature that’s expected to arrive in the next few months.

Main image: Shutterstock, body image courtesy of Google