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IBM is set to launch a new hybrid cloud service using the software it gained from its acquisition of Cast Iron Systems.

IBM acquired Cast Iron in 2010 and it is now going to use the company's software to create its own cloud-based system that will help clients reduce the time it takes to connect, manage and secure public and private clouds.

WebSphere Cast Iron Cloud Integration enables companies to rapidly connect their hybrid world of public clouds, private clouds, and on-premise applications. The result, they believe, will to reduce the time and effort it takes to access and manage data.

With an ever increasing number of companies and organisations looking to make use of the scalability and flexibility of a public cloud system, IBM will be offering an option that will allow them to do so while also keeping some resources in-house. As such, this offers the company the choice of what data, files and information it wishes to store in the public cloud and which it wants to keep in its own private cloud.

The hybrid cloud, a means of combining the size and flexibility of the public cloud with the ease of monitoring and management of the private cloud, is becoming an increasingly attractive prospect for businesses making the transition into the cloud.

Robert LeBlanc, senior vice president of middleware software at IBM, said: “As the hybrid cloud model is emerging as a strategic means to quickly unlock business value from data sources, IBM is making it enterprise-ready with the best monitoring, governance and security tools available.

“IBM's new solution will expedite and secure this process to help clients of all sizes access key business applications securely, no matter where they reside.”