Brand-new features, reduced deployment footprint and, of course, even more automation and AI capabilities — all in IBM Cloud Pak® for Integration 2021.2.1.

More than ever before, this release of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration makes AI-powered Automation a reality. There are now five major ways that Cloud Pak for Integration’s AI-powered Automation improves your outcomes:

1. Natural language integration: This new feature allows users to describe their desired integration flow simply using natural language. (Watch demo here.)
2. Transformation generator: This new feature enables users to define the format of source and target data and automatically generates the complex mapping transformation. (Watch demo here.)
3. AI for API testing: This feature (upgraded from the Q1 release) automatically observes the API traffic in a production environment, identifies where it lacks test coverage and builds tests with no human input. (Watch demo here.)
4. Mapping assist: This feature (upgraded from 2020) automatically maps a source to target using semantic understanding. This intelligent automation gets better the more it’s used, learning from previous experiences and becoming more familiar with an enterprise’s environment. (Watch demo here.)
5. Cloud-native HA for MQ: This feature (now fully released following early access in Q1) automatically replicates message data between a set of IBM MQ instances deployed into the cloud, maintaining continual availability of the messaging service in the event of individual failures — all without the cost and complexity of shared external storage. Using the MQ automatic client reconnection capability, there’s also no need to rewrite your applications to take advantage. The MQ you have relied on for years is now always on, in any cloud, with no application change needed. (Watch demo here.) 

Additional updates and features

These new AI features are just the beginning. In addition, we’ve added Event Endpoint Management, a new feature that extends our multi-form API management capabilities to also allow users to manage Kafka endpoints. And, with this release, we’ve added a new gateway service that enhances those Kafka endpoints with additional security. This feature will complement any organization’s EDA strategy and Kafka distribution. (Watch demos here.) 

Also, API Connect and DataPower delivered a major release on delivering feature parity and easing the upgrade progress, enabling v5 and V2018 customers to easily migrate to v10. Additionally, a new Upgrade Central site was published, providing a one-stop start for all API Connect upgrade/migration projects.

The news doesn’t stop there. These upgrades recently culminated in a “Watson Moment,” which is a branded, in-product experience with impactful Watson use cases, providing tremendous user value. In this release of IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, a Watson Moment was implemented that allows developers to quickly and easily create an integration flow. Developers can simply type a few words describing their integration scenario, and Watson will recommend existing assets that best match their needs. By using IBM Watson NLP technology to extract keywords, entities, intents and relationships, Watson is able to identify which flows will meet the developer’s goals. This Watson Moment not only saves time but also increases accuracy in the flow creation process. 

Get started with IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Above all else, remember the following:

• Regardless of the industry, there is no automation without integration; it enables the movement of data that makes automation opportunities possible.
• IBM Cloud Pak for Integration is the most deployed Cloud Pak on OpenShift.
• It’s extremely easy to trade up to IBM Cloud Pak for Integration from existing technologies, as you can continue running in your old environment until you’re ready to make a full move.

So what are you waiting for? Click here to get started with IBM Cloud Pak for Integration today.