IBM Cloud Targets Financial Services DevelopersIBM Cloud Targets Financial Services Developers

IBM is looking to push its version of the cloud deeper into the financial services and banking industries with new developer tools designed to create a new generation of applications for this market.

The developer tools, along with a new set of APIs, are part of IBM Cloud for Financial Services, which the company unveiled at the start of its InterConnect show in Las Vegas today.

The financial services tools are part of several different cloud and developer offerings IBM is detailing at the show. In addition, Big Blue announced a new blockchain initiative with SecureKey Technologies, which offers more protection and security to consumers, whether the person is dealing with a bank or another business. (See Blockchain: Can It Solve the Identity Crisis?)

Available in beta now, the IBM financial services tool set includes APIs, data and other content for developers who are looking to build applications for fintech, banks, insurance firms and wealth management companies.

By offering a set of API standards for its cloud, IBM is allowing developers to quickly create, test and then deploy financial services applications, including customer insights tools, regulatory and compliance analytics and security protocols.

IBM also announced a partnership with Singapore's central bank -- the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) -- to develop applications for fintech in that country.

Figure 1: (Source: IBM)

In the public cloud and infrastructure-as-a-service market, IBM is fighting for market share again several other players, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure. (See Public Cloud Spending Will Hit $122B in 2017 – Report.)

Although AWS is considered the market leader in public cloud, IBM is trying to offer additional value to its cloud services by targeting developers with its APIs, as well as drawing on its legacy as a supplier of enterprise applications, although Amazon has also started bulking up its enterprise offerings as well.

In addition to its financial services offering, IBM announced a number of other developers' tools in different fields, including:

IBM InterConnect runs through March 23.

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— Scott Ferguson, Editor, Enterprise Cloud News. Follow him on Twitter @sferguson_LR.