CircleCI today previewed the ability to deploy applications on platforms based on Arm processors in a forthcoming release of its namesake continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) platform.

Tom Trahan, vice president of business development for CircleCI, said that Arm processors are rapidly being embraced by DevOps teams seeking to take advantage of the price/performance advantages they currently have over conventional x86 processors. Amazon Web Services (AWS), for example, makes available an AWS Graviton2 service based on 64-bit Arm Neoverse processors that it claims provides a 40% advantage in overall price/performance.

The Arm community, meanwhile, has adopted many of the libraries employed on x86 platforms, Trahan noted, which is making it simpler to automate the deployment of applications on Arm-based platforms using a CI/CD platform.

It’s not clear how quickly developers are building applications for Arm processors. Historically, Arm processors can be found in a wide range of embedded systems typically deployed at the network edge. However, cloud services based on Arm processors are also becoming more widely available, and it’s only a matter of time before more Arm-based platforms are deployed in on-premises IT environments.

Arm itself is also in the process of being acquired by Nvidia, which envisions running machine learning algorithms, and other classed of advanced workloads, on both Arm processors and graphics processing units (GPUs). Many of the early efforts to build processors optimized for running AI workloads at the network edge are based on Arm processors.

The addition of Arm platforms to any IT environment will naturally create some management challenges for DevOps teams. In some cases, developers may even decide to build applications using, for example, the latest generation of machines from Apple, that are based on Arm processors, to streamline the application development and deployment process. In other cases, however, applications that are intended to be deployed on Arm processors might still be built on x86 systems.

Regardless of approach, the arrival of more Arm-based platforms in the enterprise doesn’t mean other classes of processors are going to fade away. Rather, from a processor perspective, IT environments are about to become a lot more diverse as more workloads are deployed on a wider range of processors. It may be quite a while before Arm-based platforms usurp x86-based systems that still dominate the IT landscape. However, during any turbulent economic time, the number of organizations inclined to reduce the total cost of IT by embracing new platforms always increases.

Fortunately, as more IT infrastructure is managed as code, the easier it becomes to switch platforms. There may even come a day when the decisions about which platform to employ and when is completely automated by machine learning algorithms trained to maximize IT infrastructure efficiency to the fullest extent possible.

In the meantime, DevOps teams should expect, to one degree or another, to revisit their workflows processes in the months ahead. Not only are more workloads being pushed out to edge computing platforms where Arm processors are commonly found, those Arm processors will soon find their way into the rest of the extended enterprise.

Microsoft is reportedly designing Arm-based chips for Azure servers and some Surface PCs, signaling the computer giant’s increasing willingness to lower its reliance on Intel.

Bloomberg reported Friday that the Redmond, Wash.-based company is working on in-house processor designs for its own servers that run Azure, mirroring an effort by Amazon Web Services, which has already began offering cloud instances using its own Arm-based server CPUs, Graviton.

The news organization, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the plans, said Microsoft is also exploring its own chip designs for some Surface PCs, which already include models with chips co-designed with Qualcomm and AMD separately.

In a statement to CRN, Frank Shaw, corporate vice president of communications at Microsoft, confirmed that the company is investing in its own chip design capabilities.

Because silicon is a foundational building block for technology, we’re continuing to invest in our own capabilities in areas like design, manufacturing and tools, while also fostering and strengthening partnerships with a wide range of chip providers,” he said.

Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Arm, which licenses chip designs to companies that make their own processors, has been making a bigger push into the data center over the past few years with its Neoverse platform. In September, the company revealed its V1 and N2 core designs, both of which Arm said significantly outperform CPUs made by Intel and AMD while also having high energy efficiency.

“The emergence of Arm in the data center is being powered by many factors: customization, efficiency, ecosystem diversity, but all of that builds on top of performance,” Chris Bergey, senior vice president and general manager of Arm’s infrastructure business, said in September. “If Neoverse wasn’t delivering a significant measurable value proposition you would not see the market adoption and momentum that we are achieving.”

But Arm has also been finding more success with client computers in recent times, most notably with Apple’s Arm-based M1 processor, which is now available in a few Mac models. Apple has said that the M1 can outperform competing processors by up to two times.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Nvidia, a semiconductor company that primarily makes GPUs but is also starting to built its own server systems, is in the process of acquiring Arm from its current owner, SoftBank, for US$40 billion.