A Publication of iSeries 400 Experts Total Information Service

The top 10 System i stories of 2007

By Davin Wilfrid
Friday December 21, 2007

To the casual observer, 2007 was a bad year for the System i. Declining sales, folding user groups, and a handful squabbles between System i customers and IBM underscored a level of uncertainty about the future of the system.

But that’s not the whole story. A closer look at the year’s events reveals IBM’s drive to reposition the System i, and especially i5/OS, as a valuable player in a much larger IT landscape. From the VIP program to the introduction of POWER6-capable servers and new entry-level i5 models, 2007 was a year of well-planned tactical shifts for Big Blue.

Here are the top 10 stories from 2007:

1. Revenue slide continues. In some ways, 2007 was just like 2006, in that revenues for the System i declined each quarter. IBM suffered declines of 13%, 15%, and 21% in Q1, Q2, and Q3 2007, respectively. Mark Shearer, then System i general manager, told Insider Weekly at the 2007 Annual COMMON conference that IBM was focused more on total offerings to its customers than on revenues for individual server lines. But many industry watchers have openly questioned IBM’s commitment to driving sales for the System i (IW 10/19/07).
   
   
2. IBM releases new entry-level boxes. Insider Weekly was there as Big Blue gave analysts and media members a sneak peak at the System i models 515 and 525 — lower-cost servers aimed at steering business away from Microsoft in smaller shops. The pricing scheme IBM attached to the servers was a departure from traditional IBM pricing. The Models 515 and 525 are unencumbered by CPW-based pricing; instead, they offer per-user licensing costs. IBM executives said the new servers were part of an overall strategy to sell application-driven solutions to vertical industries (IW 4/13/07).
   
   
3. Splitsville. In July, IBM drastically changed the structure of its System i sales, marketing, and engineering teams. Big Blue created two new organizations — the Power Systems unit and the Business Systems unit — within the Systems & Technology group. The Power Systems unit is now responsible for high-end System i and System p servers, while the Business Systems unit concentrates on smaller System i servers and solutions more appropriate for small and medium-sized business (SMB) customers. Mark Shearer became the overall product manager for POWER-based software products. In an interview with Insider Weekly, Shearer said the split would help IBM serve two distinct groups of customers. “As I’ve participated in user group meetings around world and been working with clients, it became clear that the System i is really two distinct businesses. We’ve focused so much on meeting high end requirements, sometimes we weren’t focusing enough on the SMB customers,” he said (IW 7/20/07).
   
   
4. Vision gobbles up the competition. Vision Solutions made news in 2006 by buying high availability (HA) rival iTera. This year, Vision upped the ante by purchasing its last major rival in the HA space, Lakeview Technology. The acquisition made Vision the largest HA vendor in the world, with a customer base of more than 6,000 companies. Some in the System i community openly wondered whether Vision’s newfound dominance of the market would lead to higher prices and less responsiveness, but new Vision CEO Nicolaas Vlok, in an interview with Insider Weekly, promised to maintain a high standard of investment in the future of HA (IW 6/15/07).
   
   
5. COMMON changes course. After months of research into the educational needs of its members, COMMON decided to scrap its longstanding tradition of hosting two large conferences in favor of one annual conference and one smaller, in-depth event called “COMMON Focus.” The 2007 Annual COMMON Conference was held in Anaheim, CA, in the spring, while the inaugural COMMON Focus conference was held in Columbus, OH in the fall (IW 9/21/07).
   
   
6. IBM gets vertical. The System i has enjoyed tremendous success in some vertical industries, most notably the gaming industry, where the platform runs 93% of back-of-the-house IT workloads, according to a study by International Technology Group (ITG). To capitalize on the platform’s unique advantages in certain sectors, IBM created the Vertical Industry Program (VIP). The VIP is a sales initiative in which IBM works with ISVs through networking, sales support, and co-marketing programs to generate sales opportunities in industry subgroups, such as retail companies in Australia or labor unions in New York (IW 2/9/07).
   
   
7. POWER6 comes to the System i. IBM made another leap in business computing power in 2007, releasing the much-anticipated POWER6 processor. Big Blue brought the processor to the System p line first, but in July 2007 introduced the first POWER6-based System i model. The POWER6 Model 570 comes equipped with a 4.7GHz processor that offers 76,900 CPW on a 16-way box — a 72% boost in CPW over the POWER5 and 31% over the POWER5+ processor. IBM says the CPW performance gain pales in comparison to gains in SAP and Java power, which are nearly double what the POWER5-based servers offer. The full line of System i servers are scheduled to get a POWER6 overhaul in 2008, and many industry analysts say a rash of new server sales should be close behind (IW 7/27/07).
   
   
8. The community speaks out. Two events of 2007 highlighted the growing ability of the System i community to make its voice heard. First, IBM offended some developers by announcing its intention to move the CODE tools out of the free version of WebSphere Development Studio Client (WDSC) and into the pay-per-seat Advanced Edition — starting with the next version (IW 3/9/07). A separate flap erupted in August, when IBM Domino executives announced that IBM did not plan to offer native DB2 functionality beyond the Windows, AIX, and Linux platforms, effectively cutting i5/OS users off from a new feature of Domino 8 (IW 8/31/07). In both instances, the System i community responded on message boards, at conferences, and through letters to IBM executives. Big Blue did not immediately “fix” either situation, but acknowledged that community feedback is critical to shaping future decisions.
   
   
9. Business intelligence and the System i. The historical popularity of the System i means that much of the world’s business data is stored on that platform, so it only made sense for IBM to get serious about bringing modern business intelligence (BI) tools to the System i. After trying, and failing, to develop its own i5/OS BI tool, IBM did the next best thing — signing an OEM deal with New York-based Information Builders, Inc., to resell a modified version of that company’s WebFOCUS tool. The tool, renamed IBM Web Query for System i, allows shops to slice and dice data from across business processes in a slick graphical interface. Big Blue has high hopes that easing the search for information will help keep the System i relevant in shops that are increasingly adding Windows and Unix servers around the System i (IW 3/23/07).
   
   
10. Enterprise-ready open-source solutions make waves. One of the major stories of 2006 was open-source PHP provider Zend bringing the development language to the System i. In 2007, the relationship between Zend and the System i strengthened, as IBM announced that shops would be able to run the open-source MySQL natively in i5/OS, opening the door to thousands of PHP applications already proven in the business computing world. IBM and MySQL AB will deliver DB2 as a certified MySQL storage engine on i5/OS. This allows System i shops to implement transactional MySQL applications while storing all data in DB2. In turn, IBM will offer MySQL through its sales force and vast network of System i resellers (IW 4/27/07).

iSeries expert launches new support site iSeries 400 Experts Journal author and open-source expert Jim Mason has created a new online group for iSeries users. The group, called QuickWebSupport, will offer downloads and support for Java-based Web solutions, and is sponsored by Mason’s company, ebt-now. Mason says the site will offer information on IBM’s Java-based tools and solutions as well enterprise open-source solutions. To join the group, go to http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/QuickWebSupport/.