Secure-by-Default, Open, Evidence-Driven (IKS/ROKS, Key Protect/HPCS, Direct Link)
IBM Cloud excels when you need secure, open, compliance-heavy platforms—Kubernetes/OpenShift (IKS/ROKS), Key Protect / Hyper Protect Crypto Services (HPCS) for strong key custody, Cloud Object Storage (WORM) for immutability, and Direct Link for deterministic network paths.
SolveForce delivers IBM Cloud foundations that are Zero-Trust by default, policy-as-code, and wired to evidence—so you ship faster without compliance surprises.
Connected pages:
☁️ Cloud → /cloud • 🔗 On-ramps → /direct-connect
🧱 IaC/CI-CD → /infrastructure-as-code • /devops
🛡️ Security → /cybersecurity • 🔑 Keys/Secrets → /key-management • /secrets-management • /encryption
📦 Data → /data-warehouse • /etl-elt • /vector-databases
💾 Continuity → /cloud-backup • /backup-immutability • /draas
📊 Evidence/Automation → /siem-soar • 💸 Spend → /finops
🎯 Outcomes (Why SolveForce on IBM Cloud)
- Secure landing zone — private-by-default VPC networking, guardrails, and centralized logging.
- Open containers — IKS (Kubernetes) and ROKS (OpenShift) with GitOps and policy gates.
- Strong key custody — Key Protect (KMS) and HPCS (HSM) for CMK + dual-control.
- Deterministic paths — Direct Link on-ramps; policy-based routing & inspection hubs.
- Audit-ready — encryption, immutability, access logs, and DR artifacts exportable to auditors.
🧭 IBM Scope (What we build & run)
- Accounts & guardrails — resource groups, access groups, IAM policies; Security & Compliance Center baselines.
- Networking — VPC architectures (multi-zone), Transit/VRF pattern, Private DNS, Direct Link to colo/DC/SD-WAN hubs. → /direct-connect
- Containers & platforms — IKS/ROKS clusters (GPU/spot pools), image signing/admission, GitOps. → /kubernetes • /devops
- Data & storage — Cloud Object Storage (COS) with WORM/retention, block/file, managed databases; ELT → lake/warehouse. → /cloud-backup • /etl-elt • /data-warehouse
- Security & edge — Key Protect / HPCS, Secrets Manager, Cloud Internet Services (CIS) (WAF/DNS/DDoS), Satellite for edge/regional workloads. → /waf • /key-management • /secrets-management
- Observability — Activity Tracker, Log/Monitoring stacks to SIEM, SOAR playbooks for rollback/contain. → /siem-soar
- Continuity — COS immutability, cross-region replicas, DR runbooks & drills. → /backup-immutability • /draas
🧱 Building Blocks (Spelled out)
- Landing Zone as Code — resource groups, IAM access groups, mandatory tags, deny-public storage, encryption-required policies. → /infrastructure-as-code
- Zero Trust — ZTNA for users, SASE for web/SaaS; NAC on-prem; per-app access to private endpoints—no flat VPNs. → /ztna • /sase • /nac
- Keys & Crypto — CMKs in Key Protect; HSM-backed keys in HPCS for high-assurance; envelope encryption; dual-control & rotation evidence. → /key-management • /encryption
- Boundary — CIS (Cloud Internet Services) WAF/DDoS/DNS; API Gateway with HMAC/JWS, quotas, schema validation. → /waf
- Immutable storage — COS WORM/retention policies for ransomware-safe backups & compliance. → /backup-immutability
🧰 Reference Architectures
A) VPC Hub + Direct Link (Hybrid Core)
- Multi-zone VPCs; inspection hub; Direct Link to colo/DC; SD-WAN breakouts; private endpoints to PaaS.
B) IKS/ROKS Platform
- Cluster-as-code, NetworkPolicy default-deny, image signing & admission, GitOps, autoscale; SIEM/SOAR wiring. → /kubernetes • /siem-soar
C) Data & AI on COS
- Event-driven ELT → lake/warehouse; COS for immutable bronze; vector DB for guarded RAG (cite-or-refuse). → /vector-databases
D) Regulated Enclave (HIPAA/PCI/NIST)
- HPCS keys, COS WORM, private endpoints only, ZTNA for admins, CIS WAF; evidence packs for audits. → /cybersecurity
E) Satellite Edge
- IBM Satellite locations for on-prem/edge; consistent IAM/policy; telemetry to central SIEM; DR to IBM Cloud region.
📐 SLO Guardrails (Targets You Can Measure)
| KPI / SLO (p95 unless noted) | Target (Recommended) |
|---|---|
| Direct Link attach (metro to region) | ≤ 2–5 ms |
| Policy deploy → enforced | ≤ 60–120 s |
| IKS/ROKS node join | ≤ 3–6 min |
| WAF (CIS) added latency (edge) | ≤ 5–20 ms |
| Backup immutability (Tier-1 sets) | = 100% |
| Tag/label coverage (cost-bearing) | ≥ 95–100% |
| Evidence completeness (changes/incidents) | = 100% |
SLO breaches auto-open tickets and trigger SOAR (rollback, reroute, re-key, scale). → /siem-soar
🔒 Compliance Mapping
- SOC 2 / ISO 27001 — access/change/logging; evidence exports.
- HIPAA — encryption & audit controls; COS WORM for records; key custody in HPCS/KP.
- PCI DSS — CDE segmentation, tokenization, CIS WAF/Bot, key custody (HPCS), immutable logs/backups.
- NIST 800-53/171 / CMMC-aligned — AC/IA/AU/SC/CM mapped to IBM controls + SIEM.
📊 Observability & Evidence
- Activity Tracker, VPC flow, CIS WAF, IKS/ROKS audit logs → SIEM.
- Dashboards: latency/loss, policy drift, IAM changes, backup/DR status, cost by tag/domain.
- SOAR playbooks: isolate/revoke/rekey/rollback; change IDs & approvals.
💸 FinOps
- Mandatory tags; budgets/alerts; anomaly tickets.
- Right-size instances & storage IOPS; lifecycle policies; egress guardrails & CDN.
- Commitment planning; unit costs ($/env, $/1k req, $/TB scanned). → /finops
🛠️ Implementation Blueprint (No-Surprise Rollout)
1) Assess & classify workloads, data classes, RTO/RPO, compliance scope.
2) Design landing zone — resource groups, IAM/access groups, policy sets, logging hubs, VPCs, Direct Link.
3) Identity & secrets — SSO/MFA federation, PIM/JIT, Key Protect/HPCS, Secrets Manager; ZTNA for admins. → /key-management • /secrets-management • /ztna
4) IaC & pipelines — modules, policy gates, signed artifacts; canary/blue-green. → /infrastructure-as-code • /devops
5) Security & boundary — NetworkPolicy, CIS WAF/Bot, DLP egress, API quotas/tokens. → /waf • /dlp
6) Data & AI — ELT/dbt, catalog/lineage, vector DB for guarded RAG. → /etl-elt • /data-warehouse • /vector-databases
7) Continuity — COS WORM, cross-region DR, drills with artifacts. → /backup-immutability • /draas
8) Operate & optimize — SLO dashboards; FinOps reviews; quarterly security posture tune-ups.
✅ Pre-Engagement Checklist
- ☁️ Regions, Direct Link POPs, diversity needs.
- 🔐 Identity posture (SSO/MFA/PIM), HPCS/Key Protect plan, Secrets Manager usage.
- 🖧 VPC hub/spoke, Private DNS/Endpoints, egress policy, inspection hubs.
- ☸️ IKS/ROKS requirements (GPU/spot), image signing/admission policies.
- 📦 Storage (COS WORM, block/file), snapshots/replication; DR RTO/RPO.
- 🧮 Data platform (lake/warehouse, streaming), lineage & DQ stack.
- 💸 FinOps guardrails; commitment strategy; budgets/alerts.
- 📊 SIEM/SOAR destinations; SLO targets; audit/report cadence.
🔄 Where IBM Cloud Fits (Recursive View)
1) Grammar — workloads ride /connectivity & /networks-and-data-centers.
2) Syntax — built on /cloud patterns with Direct Link on-ramps.
3) Semantics — /cybersecurity preserves truth; keys/logs/backups prove control.
4) Pragmatics — /solveforce-ai predicts cost/risk and proposes safe optimizations.
5) Foundation — consistent terms via /primacy-of-language.
6) Map — indexed in /solveforce-codex & /knowledge-hub.