AWS and IBM Join Forces to Introduce an Innovative Cloud Database Solution, Empowering Users to Enhance Data Management for AI Tasks.

By Brian k. Neal

IBM Teams Up with AWS to Launch Amazon RDS for Db2, a Cloud Database Service Streamlining AI Workload Management

IBM, in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), has unveiled the general availability of Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) for Db2. This fully managed cloud offering aims to simplify data management for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads across hybrid cloud environments.

As businesses increasingly leverage AI for data-driven insights, decision automation, and operational efficiency, the demand for modern data stores on cloud-native architectures is rising. Amazon RDS for Db2 provides customers the flexibility to modernize on-premises, on AWS, or deploy a hybrid cloud architecture to optimize AI workloads.

For customers transitioning to AWS, the service facilitates the migration of self-managed Db2 databases to the cloud, automating time-consuming tasks such as provisioning, backups, software patching, and monitoring.

Dinesh Nirmal, Senior Vice President of Products, IBM Software, emphasized the strategic importance of digital transformation, stating, “IBM and AWS are redefining the possibilities of cloud database innovation, removing the complexity of modernization and empowering organizations to realize the full potential of their data.”

According to an AWS and IDC study, Amazon RDS customers experienced significant benefits, managing up to 60% more databases per DBA and enjoying an estimated 39% lower database operational costs over three years. Jeff Carter, VP Databases & Migrations, AWS, highlighted the collaboration’s value in simplifying Db2 management, enabling customers to focus on high-value tasks like application modernization and query optimization.

Amazon RDS for Db2 combines Amazon RDS’s operational expertise with IBM Db2’s extensive experience in running mission-critical workloads. The offering integrates IBM’s data and AI capabilities on AWS, providing customers access to a portfolio of commercial databases, data fabric solutions, and WatsonX data, AI, and select AI governance capabilities.

As customers embark on modernization and AI initiatives with Amazon RDS for Db2, they can leverage IBM’s integrated solutions to manage data and scale AI workloads effectively. This includes unifying, transforming, and sharing transactional data for AI, utilizing native integrations with Db2 Warehouse and watsonx.data open data lakehouse on AWS. Participants in the private beta are already recognizing the value of the collaboration, anticipating accelerated productivity and modernization initiatives.