At IBM Edge2015, the company announced developments in its Spectrum Storage family’s ongoing ability to support Cloud and Big Data, as well as enhanced virtualization support.

Jamie Thomas, GM of IBM’s Storage and Software Defined Group, explained that Spectrum Storage includes storage management and optimization products. The Spectrum family focuses on data protection control and archival, as well as the ability to support virtualization, scaled-out data and Cloud. However, the products also incorporate IBM’s larger vision.

Creating an open ecosystem

“We’re creating an open ecosystem,” Thomas told theCUBE. “We’re creating an environment and a set of capabilities that have APIs that allow others to integrate with them more fully to provide value-added solutions. The evolution of Spectrum, combined with the power of the independent software vendors, brings more value to clients at a more rapid speed.”

IBM’s Software Defined infrastructure aims to accommodate a customer desire for agility and integration. “Analytics is a big tip of the sphere in a client’s workload,” said Thomas. “If you look at new development models, the architecture is fundamentally shifting. Clients want to be able to support new models effectively with a more agile infrastructure and have an economic advantage.”

Another step in the journey

Thomas noted that the advancements with Spectrum and Software Defined are just another step in a journey IBM started last year.

“We talked about a different IBM storage business that was founded on the principles of software defined and flash, and now we’ve realized that in a big way,” she said. “With the announcements we’ve made around our next-generation flash system and the IBM Spectrum Storage family … we really think we’re on a great path. We’re infusing some of the same capabilities in our entire product line.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM Edge2015.