F5 introduces new application services offering for Multi-Cloud environments

BIG-IP Cloud Edition combines F5’s broad portfolio of application services with the dramatically enhanced management, visibility, and analytics capabilities of BIG-IQ^®. F5’s software-based solution lets customers easily add ‘right-sized’ services tailored for individual applications, multiple cloud environments, and user demands. As a prominent use case, the solution enables customers to deploy Advanced Web Application Firewall^™ policies to address sophisticated application threats in a consistent way across public and private clouds.

“We see application services evolving to a per-app model that enables NetOps, SecOps, and application development teams to deploy consistent and right-sized application services for every app, regardless of where those apps run,” said Kara Sprague, SVP and General Manager of the ADC business unit at F5. “There persists a misconception that you have to choose between rich services and agile, portable service deployment. Our goal with BIG-IP Cloud Edition is to remove this false dichotomy, and better enable NetOps and SecOps teams to deploy a full range of traffic management and security services in a lightweight software footprint, easily add new applications to their services mix, and more swiftly embrace DevOps practices.”

Highlights of the new BIG-IP Cloud Edition include:

• Enterprise-grade services and protection with an all-software ADC solution
• Dedicated and right-sized application services for every application in any environment
• Self-service catalog of app services for automated provisioning, configurations, and upgrades
• Per-app visibility, analytics, and auto-scale capabilities

Lightweight Application Services Delivery for Quick App Deployments

From F5’s recent State of Application Delivery research, the average organization relies on 16 different application services to keep their apps fast, safe, and available. Today’s NetOps teams require scalable services that are easy to procure, can be consumed in a variety of ways, and are highly programmable. BIG-IP Cloud Edition has been designed with these aims in mind, and will support a number of deployment scenarios, including subscription, licensing, and utility billing models. This approach brings together the feature rich, customizable capabilities of F5’s traditional BIG-IP^® platform with the accessibility and agility of cloud-focused technologies that NetOps and DevOps teams are using to drive contemporary digital transformation efforts.

Scalable Services and Protection for Every Application

Applications are the currency of the modern business economy, with the number of apps increasing and growing more complex alongside a rise in connected devices and IoT technologies. While many other vendors or open source organizations offer basic app services, they cannot offer security commensurate with the valuable data and transactions carried out via apps. With Advanced WAF capabilities, BIG-IP Cloud Edition makes it easy to test and deploy all applications across cloud and data center architectures without sacrificing security. Per-app protection enhances an organization’s overall security posture by safeguarding the company and customer information handled by all apps, with dedicated templates for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and other cloud environments. This granular ability to auto-scale flexible, proven F5 services to each application means that security and availability functions can be cost-effectively implemented for an evolving mix of applications, not just the select few.

Easy to Manage Services for Heightened Visibility and Streamlined Operations

In addition to making services more accessible for applications, BIG-IP Cloud Edition also extends the benefits of these services to multiple IT teams. The ability to seamlessly deploy, upgrade, and automate trusted F5 services on a per-application basis better positions NetOps to support business priorities in concert with SecOps and DevOps. With a focus on collaborative operations, the solution promotes instant self-service consumption by app development teams, along with an open application programming interface (API) for deploying services in the data center and multiple cloud environments. Through dedicated dashboards that deliver per-app visibility, analytics, and controls, BIG-IP Cloud Edition simplifies operations while enhancing management and orchestration. Similarly, the solution provides quick self-diagnosis and issue resolution with helpful insight into application performance and health characteristics.

“With technologies like BIG-IP Cloud Edition and programs such as its Super-NetOps initiative, we see F5 focusing on collaboration as a means to achieve service velocity and drive business outcomes,” said Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Principal Analyst of ZK Research. “While perhaps more traditionally associated with certain ‘high value’ applications, there are many benefits to the company broadening its appeal to provide services and support for the next wave—apps that would otherwise only receive basic application delivery services. Moreover, in a breach-conscious environment, the business case for extending security and related services to a wider range of enterprise applications becomes clearer, adding another dimension to the company’s value proposition.”