Item: IBM Cloud Foundry
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Recently I've built and run a web-app (trindfl.com) within IBM Cloud Foundry, which is drafting a tax declaration for interactive brokers (IBKR) traders. A user downloads her IBKR yearly activity reports (csv files), and then she uploads them to the web-app (IBM Cloud Foundry). In a few seconds the web-app, first, parses the uploaded reports, second, prepares the tax declaration file (xml), and, last, prepares an explanatory note (xlsx), which shows how IBKR report is aligned with Russian tax law. Brief analysis results are presented to the user so she can make a decision to purchase and download tax declaration and explanatory note files. All the uploaded and created files are deleted after a while.

Pros and Cons

The IBM Cloud CLI software doesn't change my laptop environment (whereas AWS CF Python CLI does).
IBM Cloud Foundry allows me to use the most recent versions of Python.
IBM Cloud Foundry easily integrates with other IBM services (e.g., DB2 service, object storage, LogDNA).

When using IBM Cloud Foundry with LogDNA, I can't filter log events based on their level (i.t. debug, info, error). Thus, LogDNA marks all the web-app log messages as 'OUT,' which is not quite useful for message filtering.

Return on Investment

With ready-to-use IBM Cloud Foundry and other IBM cloud services, I avoided costs for corresponding stuff. Leaning on the IBM service predictability, I expect highly efficient unit-sale-margin, which should lead to the total project payback period of one and a half to two years.

Alternatives Considered

AWS Elastic Beanstalk

When I started with prototyping five months ago, I tried IBM Cloud Foundry and AWS, but finally I preferred IBM Cloud Foundry.

I selected IBM Cloud Foundry because IBM service CLI is quite simple to use in devops. It works with the recent versions of Python and it's not changing my Mac OS environment (and it doesn't try to install old versions of Python on my laptop as AWS CF CLI does). In addition, many IBM services provide free trials, so I don't need to pay for it during the system selection and prototyping stages.

Other Software Used

DB2, IBM Cloud Object Storage, IBM Log Analysis with LogDNA

Likelihood to Recommend

When I started with prototyping five months ago, I tried IBM Cloud Foundry and AWS, but finally I preferred IBM Cloud Foundry for the reasons described bellow.

I needed to draft a system architecture, which includes Python web app, database, object storage, and API integration with external services. IBM Cloud Foundry provides me with enterprise-level production-ready solutions, which I could easily integrate and test my prototype before I made a system selection decision. Thus, I chose IBM Cloud Foundry, object storage, DB2 service, and LogDNA to proceed. In addition, many IBM services provide free trials, so I don't need to pay for testing during the stage of system selection and prototyping.

Recommended over AWS

Overall Satisfaction with IBM Cloud Foundry