Using softwares on Bluemix platform

Question

Can I use or integrate any software in Bluemix such as Apache Spark? Or does Bluemix limits the developers to using software products and services that are available in the platform?

Answer 1

Bluemix provides a catalog of services as a convenient way to access those capabilities within your application. The platform handles user creation and credential handling within the service for your app.

But you're not forced to use those services. If you have an externally hosted service that you need to use in your app, you are free to do so.

If you want to host your own service instance within the Bluemix environment, you can make use the the IBM Container service, or a Softlayer hosted virtual machine.

Answer 2

IBM Bluemix has a very good hybrid cloud story. You are not limited to using software product or services that are available within the Bluemix platform.

If you have a software product that you would like to integrate with Bluemix, it is best to host them within Bluemix using Bluemix container or Bluemix VM to minimize the latency between your Bluemix application and the software you like to run.

If you have a third party service that is offered outside of Bluemix or if you prefer to host your software on-premise, there is a suite of services in the Integration category on Bluemix (e.g. Secure Gateway and Cloud Integration) that provides secure connectivity from Bluemix to other applications and data sources running on-premise or in other clouds.