Midsize businesses that want mainframe reliability, but in a smaller, less costly package than what has traditionally been available, have a new option from IBM.
IBM this week introduced the z890 mainframe as it celebrated the 40th anniversary of its first big iron, the System/360. The z890 can run Linux and mainframe operating systems at the same time and is 30% smaller than the company’s z800 mainframe.
“For businesses supporting legacy applications, the z890 is a very good option for them to explore,” says Charles King of Sageza Group. “They can buy it in low-capacity configurations that they can match to exactly what their requirements are. And it’s cheap.”
In addition to announcing the z890, which is scheduled to be available May 28, IBM unveiled the IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server 750, a smaller version of its Shark storage system that is meant to complement the z890.
The Enterprise Storage Server 750, which has on-demand capabilities that let users start with as little as 1.1 terabytes of capacity and scale to more than 4.6 terabytes, is scheduled to be available next month, with prices starting at around $100,000.
Further, the company announced the zSeries Application Assist Processor, a specialized engine designed to handle Java-based applications within the z/OS environment for the z890 and z990 mainframes. Colette Martin, director of zSeries products at IBM, says the new processor will let businesses run Java-based applications such as IBM’s WebSphere application server on the mainframe more cost effectively by offloading Java workloads from standard processors. The zAAP engine is expected to be available on June 30 priced at $125,000 per processor.
Martin says the z890 brings the bells and whistles of the z990, code-named T-Rex, to smaller businesses. While the z990 supports one to 32 CMOS processors, the z890 scales to just four processors, but both can run as many as 30 logical partitions.
In addition, the z890 offers twice the performance of IBM’s other entry-level mainframe, the z800, and can be purchased with as few as 26 MIPS, about 30% smaller than the smallest z800, at 40 MIPS, Martin says. In all, the z890 has 28 capacity levels so customers can add capacity in small increments, she says.
“And [the z890] has the lowest entry price that we’ve ever offered on a zSeries, at under $200,000,” Martin adds.
Curtiss Kovash, senior systems software analyst at Basin Electric Power Cooperative in Bismarck, N.D., says he isn’t ready to migrate from the z800 he’s been using to run inventory maintenance and accounts-payable applications since 2002, but likes the fact that he can expand capacity on the z890 in smaller increments than is possible with the z800.
“With the z800, you don’t have as many options as you start adding increments. That’s one of the problems I had with the old 9672 mainframe. When you jumped, you had to jump in such large increments,” he says. “The z890 looks like it’s a much more gradual increase, which to me is a benefit.”
The reason, he says, is that he can add exactly the capacity he needs, rather than having to pump up capacity beyond specific application requirements. Software licenses are typically priced based on capacity, so even if a company is using only 60% of available capacity, it’s paying for 100% of the available capacity of the machine.
IBM is hoping the z890 will help expand the customer base for its zSeries systems, which had a strong year last year due in large part to the release of the z990 last spring. According to IBM’s annual report, zSeries revenues were up 7.4% in 2003 compared with 2002. IBM doesn’t break out specific revenue figures for product lines, but IDC estimated that mainframes accounted for about $4.2 billion in revenue for IBM in 2003.
