Improve your business operations with IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation on AWS

Organizations managing growing volumes of content need effective document access and sharing systems to maintain operational efficiency. IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation (CP4BA) on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA) helps teams improve information access, support decision-making processes, and enhance business operations. This solution enables organizations to maintain security standards and compliance requirements while freeing IT teams to focus on innovation rather than system management. In this blog, you’ll learn how IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation works on ROSA and how integrations with AWS services can create a comprehensive solution for your business automation needs

Cloud Pak for Business Automation on ROSA

IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation provides an integrated platform of capabilities that automate business operations. When deployed on ROSA, you gain simplified configuration, management, and ongoing operational support.

Cloud Pak for Business Automation includes several automation capabilities:

• Process Mining and Modelling generates process models, analyzes impacts on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and simulates future processes to help you implement process improvements.
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Digital Labor performs repetitive tasks, works with data extracted from unstructured documents, and automates systems without APIs to improve data accuracy.
• AI and Operational Intelligence helps classify and comprehend content, prioritize tasks, support decisions, and create intelligent chatbots to identify important opportunities.

These capabilities operate on core services including Content Services, Document Processing, Workflow Automation, Decision Management, and Low Code Applications.

The following diagram shows the capabilities the IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation platform provides when deployed on ROSA (Figure 1).

Figure 1: IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation capabilities deployed on ROSA

Advantages of Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA)

When you deploy on ROSA, you work with a fully managed Red Hat OpenShift environment on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This approach helps with scaling applications, maintaining cross-environment consistency, and improving deployment timelines. ROSA allows your team to focus on business automation while Red Hat and AWS handle OpenShift operations.

ROSA with Hosted Control Plane provides cost advantages, additional security features, and simplified deployment options. The combination of ROSA capabilities and IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation helps organizations manage IT operations with the scalability, reliability, and efficiency needed for business applications.

The container architecture of IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation supports portability across hybrid and on-premises deployments and runs on Red Hat OpenShift. AWS has collaborated with IBM and Red Hat to create a reference architecture for IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation on ROSA, which is particularly helpful for organizations new to production container environments

AWS Integration

CP4BA requires several supporting services that need to be configured before deployment. ROSA integrates with multiple AWS services to provide a complete solution, as shown in the following architecture diagram (Figure 2).

Figure 2: AWS integrations with IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation on ROSA

Storage Options

For persistent storage requirements, CP4BA on ROSA can leverage:

• Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) – Provides scalable, fully managed file storage for shared content repositories and application data.
• Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) – Delivers block-level storage volumes for application components requiring high-performance storage.
• Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) – Stores application and content data backups for reliable long-term retention with built-in durability

Database Options

CP4BA supports multiple databases, including IBM DB2, Oracle, and SQL Server. Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) provides managed, redundant databases capable of deployment across multiple Availability Zones, reducing operational overhead while maintaining high availability for your automation data.

Security and Networking

For authentication and authorization, AWS Directory Service offers managed Active Directory capabilities that integrate with CP4BA’s security framework, providing consistent identity management across your environment.

A common enterprise deployment pattern divides components across multiple Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPCs) and uses AWS Transit Gateway to connect these networks securely. This architecture helps organizations maintain separation between different application components while ensuring secure communication between services.

Running Cloud Pak for Business Automation with ROSA

Deploying CP4BA on ROSA creates an operational model that simplifies IT responsibilities. Red Hat and AWS manage infrastructure-level tasks including node provisioning, security patching, and OpenShift version management. This approach allows your IT staff to concentrate on configuring business automation capabilities like document processing workflows, decision services, and content management applications rather than maintaining the underlying infrastructure.

Scalability, Reliability, and Cost Management

IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation on ROSA provides both vertical and horizontal scaling options:

• Vertical scaling – Adjust worker node instances to handle memory-intensive workloads.
• Horizontal scaling – Add nodes to distribute processing across more resources.

ROSA deploys across multiple AWS Availability Zones, creating architecture that helps maintain operations with high availability backed by a 99.95% service level agreement (SLA).

From a financial perspective, ROSA integrates with your existing AWS billing. The service appears on your AWS invoice, applying toward your AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP) commitments, helping you consolidate cloud spending while gaining the benefits of managed OpenShift

Update Management and Operations

ROSA provides controlled update paths through the ROSA console, allowing you to choose when to apply OpenShift updates based on your maintenance windows and business requirements. For CP4BA, you can apply application updates independently of the underlying OpenShift updates.

This two-tier update approach allows you to:

• Maintain application versions according to your business needs.
• Receive timely security updates at the infrastructure level.
• Test CP4BA updates in non-production environments before applying to production.
• Create predictable update processes that align with your organization’s schedule.

By separating application and infrastructure updates, you can minimize disruption while ensuring both components remain current and secure

Summary

Choosing IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation on ROSA isn’t just about deploying an application—it’s about making a strategic decision to streamline operations and focus on growth. By leveraging ROSA’s managed infrastructure with CP4BA’s automation capabilities, businesses can balance operational efficiency with cost savings while maintaining the agility needed for today’s competitive environment.

Additional Resources

Take the next step by understanding more about agile integration with IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation running on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA). Try out ROSA and learn more about IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation using the follow resources:

Video: What’s under the hood IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation | AWS
Video: Shared storage options for IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation on AWS
Blog: Installing Red Hat OpenShift on AWS in a restricted network using AWS STS
Website: IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation 24.0.1 System Requirements