When IBM showed up at the LinuxWorld conference earlier this month, it went to great lengths to market its Linux solutions to medium-size businesses. Just a few months ago, IBM's mid-market pitch was largely limited to its Intel-based xSeries servers. At this conference, however, Big Blue put the spotlights on its POWER processor-based iSeries and pSeries systems.
Over the last several years, mid-market organizations have mainly used Linux to run basic infrastructure and networking workloads at rock-bottom prices on cheap Intel servers. Now that Linux has proven itself for such tasks, some companies are considering whether to expand the operating system's role to transaction-based workloads that support core business processes. Such workloads require greater reliability and scalability than infrastructure workloads. They usually require middleware--including application servers and database management systems--and fairly sophisticated systems management tools. For such workloads, rock-bottom prices are not as big of a requirement as they are for infrastructure tasks.
IBM understands these truths, so it is marketing its POWER servers to medium-size businesses as highly reliable, scalable, and manageable hosts for transaction-based applications running on Linux. It used this month's LinuxWorld to demonstrate that its iSeries and pSeries servers are ready to support such solutions. That demonstration included the following components:
- A nearly complete Linux Software Evaluation Kit (SEK) for POWER servers--When LinuxWorld last convened (in January of this year), IBM offered its first Linux SEK for iSeries and pSeries servers under the Speed-Start Your Linux Application program. Initially, that SEK had precious little software. At this month's LinuxWorld, however, IBM showed off an SEK that includes WebSphere Application Server (WAS), DB2 UDB, and Tivoli's Configuration Manager and Monitoring Workbench products. By the end of this year, the SEK will include three other Tivoli products as well as WebSphere Commerce Suite.
- An Integrated Platform for e-business on POWER servers--Last year, IBM created a reference model for deploying Linux and its Linux-based middleware on xSeries servers. The model--which bore the code name "Blue Ice" but which IBM marketed as its Integrated Platform for e-business--included tools, scripts, and specifications for implementing IBM's Linux software on the xSeries. At LinuxWorld, IBM expanded this reference model to include the iSeries and pSeries. The expansion was made possible by the near completion of the Linux SEK for POWER.
The iSeries version of Blue Ice provides blueprints and tools for configuring DB2, WAS, IBM's HTTP Server, and a third-party firewall on an iSeries Model 810 or 825. In the blueprints, DB2 runs within an OS/400 partition while the application server, Web server, and firewall reside in separate Linux partitions. By following the specifications and using the tools, IBM Business Partners and value-added resellers (VARs) can dramatically reduce the time required to develop, deploy, test, and size their solutions running on an iSeries Linux platform. IBM is promoting the iSeries version of Blue Ice to its Business Partners and has garnered early support for the platform from Lansa (with its Lansa for the Web Edge Server), eOneGroup (eOneCommerce), and Foedero (DocumentZone). - Attractive discounts for IBM's Linux software--To get independent software vendors (ISVs) and VARs to build their solutions on its Linux middleware, IBM used the conference to announce its "Double Your Discount with Linux" program. Under the program, which runs through June of next year, ISVs and VARs will get up to a 60% discount on any IBM Linux software that they resell to a small or medium-size business. This gives solution providers a big profit incentive to pick IBM's Linux middleware stack instead of competitive stacks from vendors such as BEA, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems. It may even tempt some Windows ISVs and resellers to port their solutions to IBM's Linux middleware.
Is Linux on POWER Ready for Prime Time?
Clearly, IBM is working overtime to position the iSeries and pSeries as platforms of choice for transaction-based Linux applications. As part of that effort, IBM is positioning Linux on POWER as a platform that gives mid-market companies the robust quality of service levels they require but at price/performance levels rivaling those of 64-bit Intel servers.
While IBM is making headway in bringing Linux to POWER, it is still in the early stages of building a market for the platform. For instance, there is still only a handful of software vendors that offer what most companies think of as genuine e-business solutions for Linux on the iSeries. So far, those vendors can point to only a handful of companies that are deploying these solutions, and many of these deployments are still in progress. This leaves traditionally risk-averse mid-market customers with little information on which to base a Linux decision.
Despite these facts, early evidence indicates that Linux on POWER will be a viable option for some transaction-based software categories during 2004. If your company decides to fund one or more application deployments next year, I would encourage you to keep your eye on the Linux for iSeries Web site to see what products are available. Then, consider asking about those products in your requests for proposals. You may just find a solution that meets all of your requirements.
Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology. You can reach him at
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