By John Leyden, VNU Net
IBM has today confirmed that it is considering repositioning its
entire server line in a wide ranging initiative that analysts said
would decide which platforms and architectures the company will
invest in.
An IBM spokesperson confirmed that a review – codenamed Mach 1 –
is underway and that IBM would consider the positioning of its full
range of servers, including the Netfinity, OS/400, RS/6000 and
S/390 mainframes.
Big Blue declined to give any further details, but a statement
said: “IBM servers are a key focal point of the ebusiness
infrastructure. We are considering a variety of things that will
position IBM and our customers to be prepared to take advantage of
the next generation of ebusiness.”
Phil Payne, an independent consultant at Isham Research, said
the number of platforms IBM is supporting is getting out of control
prompting it to decide which product lines its future investment
programme will focus on.
“IBM has a vision that all its proprietary platforms should
share the same technology. In the long term, it wants convergence,”
he said.
Payne added that OS/2 had been a failure and the future health
of other platforms was now open to question, although he stressed
that it was not in IBM’s nature to drop product lines and thereby
alienate customers.
“The S/390 does not have an entry level system that can take on
new users, so it’s open to question what its life expectancy is.
Also, I don’t see what the future of a proprietary Unix system like
Monterey is when IBM is pushing vigorously to go into Linux,” he
said.
IBM had a platform review in November and now seems to have
started an even more wide ranging examination which may also
include software, added Payne.
Mark Lillycrop, research director at analysts Xephon, said IBM
has long-standing problems involving the number of product lines it
supports and the image of its S/390 and AS/400 lines.
“For many years IBM has been supplying numerous server
architectures and it wants to move customers away from thinking
about the distinctions between server lines,” said Lillycrop.
“Many of the servers share the same components and the
distinctions are at the brand level. However, there are still
strong feelings amongst IBM and its customer base,” he added.