The Four Hundred

If you are trying to figure out the least-cost upgrade path from your AS/400 or first-generation iSeries machine into the new second-generation iSeries line, you had better have a lot of patience unless you can get your hands on IBM's configuration tool or you are a reader of The Four Hundred. It's a bear and a half to figure out what these upgrades cost. I know, because I went to the trouble--big trouble--of pricing out all the upgrades. You're welcome.

IBM does offer its sales team and reseller partners an online configurator, but this doesn't show you all possible upgrade paths in one fell swoop. And it certainly does not perform any economic analysis on the upgrade paths to show you the relative merit of one upgrade to the new iSeries compared to another, which is why I went to the trouble.

Unfortunately, the resulting upgrade guide I have built is a very large spreadsheet that has been converted to an HTML table, which you can see by clicking here . I've arranged it as intelligently as I could given all the information that I packed into it.

The left hand side of the table details the salient characteristics of the initial machines to be upgraded to the new iSeries line. I put in the model numbers, processor numbers, and interactive feature numbers for the machines, and then added in the raw server performance (CPW C/S) and interactive performance (CPW 5250) of each of these machines, which IBM did not do in its announcement. I similarly added in this performance information to the machines that these initial AS/400 and iSeries servers are upgraded to in the revamped iSeries line.

I then figured out the cost of upgrading the processor features and the interactive-to-OS/400 Edition features for each and every of the 531 possible upgrade paths into the new line, yielding a total upgrade cost. IBM's own announcements do not give out this price, which would make things a lot easier, but let's face it, IBM's past antitrust history and its troubles in the courts have compelled it to give out list prices, which is a lot more than most server vendors provide. IBM gives us the data to work with, and honestly, the pricing and performance information IBM releases publicly to customers is a lot more than any other player in the server business. For this, we have to be grateful. (I am not kidding.) You try to get this information out of Hewlett-Packard or Sun Microsystems .

Bringing all of this information together enabled me to calculate the net gain in raw and 5250 CPW performance for each upgrade. You'll note that performance actually goes down a smidgen for some upgrades. (Is that really an upgrade?) Having figured out the net gain or loss in performance, I did some math to figure out the relative bang for the buck on each upgrade for both the raw server performance upgrade and the 5250 interactive performance upgrade. As you will see from this monster table, all upgrades are not created equal. Some are expensive, some are inexpensive, and there is a wide range of price/performance associated with these 531 possible upgrades.

One important note: It is unclear if the upgrade to a new iSeries machine includes the cost of the required first year of Software Maintenance services on the machine. I think that the OS/400 installed base should act like it is as they begin upgrading to the boxes. Make that part of your deal. It's something that IBM can and should throw into an upgrade deal, if it is does not already.

Lastly, I added in the current list price of the final, upgraded machine right next to the upgrade data. This allowed me to give a rough reckoning of the expected second-hand takeout value of the machine that is being upgraded. IBM's upgrade pricing into the new line, which started shipping on February 21, is going to set the pace for the used AS/400 Model 7XX and first generation iSeries Model 8XX product lines. The pricing on the new equipment will also determine price levels on these generations of equipment--in some cases, buying a new Model 800 or Model 810 machine might make more sense than upgrading--but equipment dealers are, like us, still working on the math to see where the floor might be on second-hand equipment prices. The uptake of the new machines will also determine pricing. If the new machines are popular, this will hammer the values of older equipment. If the new machines sell slowly, the values of older AS/400 and iSeries equipment will, at least for a while, be propped up by the demand chasing this equipment despite the relatively lower value these machines offer compared to the new iSeries line.

Have fun with all of this information and analysis, and I hope you find it useful.