IBM unveils new cloud solution for data scientists

The system can be deployed 'in minutes', says IBM

American tech giant IBM has launched a new cloud platform aimed at helping companies tap into data science and machine learning technologies.

With Cloud Private Data, firms are given access to a range of data science, data engineering and artificial intelligence-driven tools, algorithms and libraries.

It is described as an "integrated data science, data engineering, and app building platform" that works across a range of IBM cloud products and channels.

Analysts can use the cloud-based tool-set to collect, clean and categorise business data, but they can also utilise a range of machine learning algorithms to unearth even more insight.

IBM said the platform helps users "uncover previously unobtainable insights from their data" and "build and exploit event-driven applications capable of analysing the torrents of data from things like IoT sensors, online commerce, mobile devices, and more".

The solution will be offered as part of the IBM Cloud Private platform and is based on Kubernetes open-source container software. It can be "deployed in minutes" IBM claims.

Rob Thomas, general manager of IBM Analytics, said the software makes it easier for companies to reap the rewards offered by AI technology.

"Whether they are aware of it or not, every company is on a journey to AI as the ultimate driver of business transformation," he said.

"But for them to get there, they need to put in place an information architecture for collecting, managing and analysing their data.

"We are planning to bring the AI destination closer and give access to powerful machine learning and data science technologies that can turn data into game-changing insight."

Additionally, IBM has set up a team of specialists to help companies get the most out of cloud and AI technology. It consists of a global network of data scientists, decision optimisation engineers and machine learning experts.

The firm said the team is "dedicated to assisting clients on-site to begin helping them better understand and control their data, and to start making machine learning an integral part of their business".

Patricia Maqetuka, chief data officer of Nedbank Ltd, is one of the first companies to work with the team. She said: "This team helped us to unlock new paradigms about how we think about our analytics and change the way we look at use cases to unlock business value."