"Systems vendors these days have been exploring myriad ways to help their customers raise return-on-investment while paring costs at a time when spending on systems has become nearly nil. IBM, Sun and HP have all been looking for ways to move beyond basic server consolidation to find valuable placement with their vital customers.
"Looking to go a step beyond traditional server consolidation to help its own share of customers, Armonk, N.Y.'s IBM Tuesday announced a promotion for its mainframe customers and rolled out the high-end, 24- and 32-way versions of its z990 machines, code-named T-Rex.
"Peter McCaffrey, program director, IBM zSeries Product marketing, said customers who purchase a zSeries 990 mainframe server may procure a BladeCenter for additional $250,000, or if the mainframe is a high-end model, they might even receive it free with the mainframe system. McCaffrey said IBM believes these department store-like bargains, good from now until the end of the year, will help IBM attract new customers..."
