Preface

Cloud Pak for Data is IBM's modern Data and AI platform that includes strategic offerings from its data and AI portfolio delivered in a cloud-native fashion with the flexibility of deployment on any cloud. The platform offers a unique approach to address modern challenges with an integrated mix of proprietary, open source, and third-party services.

You will start with key concepts in modern data management and AI, review real-life use cases, and develop an appreciation of the AI Ladder principle. With this foundation, you will explore how Cloud Pak for Data helps in the elegant implementation of the AI Ladder practice to collect, organize, analyze, and infuse data and trustworthy AI across your business. As you advance, you will also discover the capabilities of the platform and extension services, including how they are packaged and priced. With examples throughout the book, you will gain a deep understanding of the platform, from its rich capabilities and technical architecture to its ecosystem and key go-to-market aspects.

At the end of this IBM book, you will be well-versed in the concepts of IBM Cloud Pak for Data, and be able to apply its prescriptive practices and leverage its capabilities in building a trusted data foundation and accelerate AI adoption in your enterprise.

Note

The content in this book is comprehensive and covers multiple versions in support as of Oct 2021 including version 3.5 and version 4.0. Some of the services, capabilities, and features highlighted in the book might not be relevant to all versions, and as the product evolves we expect a few more changes.

However, the overarching message, value prop, and underlying architecture will remain more or less consistent. Given the rapid progress and product evolution, we decided to be exhaustive while focusing to highlight the core concepts.

We sincerely hope that you will find this book helpful and overlook any inconsistencies attributed to product evolution.