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New IBM System z9 Business Class mainframe for SMB, time to upgrade? |
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Article by William Hoffman, mainframe-upgrade.com
Published July 2006, Copyright © 2006 mainframe-upgrade.com
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New IBM z9 Business Class mainframe for SMB |
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Small to medium businesses (SMBs) have often shied away from IBM Mainframe solutions because of cost. IBM has now made a considered move into this market by addressing this big concern. The System z9 Business Class (z9 BC) platform was announced this April and, with an entry-level price set at about $100,000, this brings the processing power of a System z9 within reach of the SMB segment. It looks a sure bet that this will attract SMB IT strategists who will relish the options open to them once they have their hands on the "big iron" hardware and software (including z/OS). In fact I predict that this could be a key growth area in the use the mainframe speciality engines, including the Integrated Facility for Linux (zLinux or IFL), zAAP (System z Applications Assist Processor) and the z9 Integrated Information Processor (zIIP chip).
Of course IBM has been serving the mid market for many years with the z890, z800 etc, family of servers, but the z9 BC sees a doubling of memory (64 GB in each processor) and makes all the advanced z9 Enterprise Class functionality available to SMB. Remember, it's not just big businesses where data volume is growing exponentially, and the 26 MIPS on the z9 BC coupled with the enhanced zIIP chip data power, will help enormously in processing it all. Also, if you think about it, the keenest exploiters of JAVA and LINUX on the mainframe could well be the mid size companies seeking to make serious gains with virtualisation and the new vogue strategies of centralisation and consolidation together with SOA and Business Integration.
IBM have introduced over 2.5 times more capacity options, giving the z9 Business Class customer a total of 73 capacity settings. This means users need not fear paying for large amounts of unused capacity and feel safe in the knowledge that a finely tuned approach to growth can be delivered. Together with IBM's Capacity On Demand offering, flexible configuration features and the low entry level price, the z9 BC should also be an attractive proposition to those who hold the purse strings.
I am confident that in a few years time there will be successful companies who will look back, and say that it was the moment they upgraded to the z9 mainframe, that gave them the vital push up they needed.
In many ways technology is catching up fast with the big ideas. It is this convergence of strategic thinking and technological capability that is fuelling a surge forward in business systems potential. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and virtualisation are the current manifestations of this trend and there are great opportunities for those who are able to couple intelligent business solutions with the leading technologies. Small to medium businesses should take a serious look at a z9 Business Class mainframe upgrade.
IBM z9 BC Link
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