IBM Slashes i Compiler and Rational Tool Prices

Published: October 19, 2009

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

It looks like IBM's Software Group has finally figured out that pricing on compiler software that used to come bundled on AS/400s in the operating system is a sticking point for customers who want to upgrade to modern Power Systems i machinery and the i 6.1 operating system. And to boost sales in the fourth quarter, Big Blue is giving shops a pretty good rebate on the i compiler sets, provided they agree to also take some Rational Developer for i companion tools as part of the deal.

With the Rational Developer for i and WebSphere Development Studio for System i Rebate Promotion that came out on October 8, in announcement letter 309-569, IBM is giving rebates in two different parts.

The first part of the deal involves the ILE Compiler set, which is 1602 (the Heritage Compiler set) of the WebSphere Development Studio for System i tools (that's program number 5761-WDS). If customers buy a minimum of three per-user licenses to the compilers, which have a list price of $1,795 a pop, and they also agree to buy three license to Rational Developer for i and/or three licenses to Rational Developer for i for SOA Construction, they get rebates on the compilers as well as the RDi and RDi for SOA tools. IBM is giving back $718 each for the three ILE Compiler licenses, which includes ILE RPG, ILE COBOL, ILE C, ILE C++, and IXL C for C/C++; it also has the *PRV compilers for ILE RPG and ILE COBOL. When you do the math, that rebate works out to a 40 percent discount off the price of the compilers for the three users.

But wait, there's more. IBM is also offering a $318 rebate on the RDi license (5733-RDI) or one year's support and maintenance (part number D03HCLL), which also has a $318 rebate. Additionally, you can get an $840 rebate for the RDi for SOA license (5733-SOA) or a year of support for it, which also carries an $840 rebate. RDi has a list price of $795, so this is effectively a 40 percent discount on that piece of software. RDi for SOA is not a cheap piece of software, either, at $1,995 per seat (including one year of support), and the rebate IBM is offering works out to a 42.1 percent discount. These are big numbers for Big Blue, and it shows that it is willing to slash prices to get customers to move ahead and, more importantly, ditch the Application Development ToolSet (5761-WDS feature 1540) and use the RDi tools instead.

That was the first part of the deal. Now, say you want to go deeper having bought three licenses to the ILE Compiler set and three licenses or support contracts to the RDi stuff mentioned above. Now, let's say you want to dig your teeth into the Heritage Compilers or the new Rational Team Concert group programming tools. IBM has an add-on deal for you, then.

If you do the first part of the deal, then under the second part you can get a rebate on the Heritage Compiler set for WebSphere Development Studio for System i (5761-WDS feature 1511), which includes the System/36 compatible RPG and COBOL compilers, the System/38 compatible RPG II and COBOL compilers, RPG/400 (sometimes called RPG III and the first AS/400 native RPG compiler), OPM COBOL (the first AS/400 native COBOL compiler). The Heritage Compiler set has a list price of $1,295 per user, so the $518 rebate per user is an effective 40 percent discount again.

A license for three users of Rational Team Concert Express Edition for i (product number D06QWLL) has a list price of $6,300 for three user seats, and IBM is giving a rebate of $2,520 on this to users who do the first part of this rebate promotion. Again, a 40 percent discount. (That price includes a year of support, by the way.)

This Power System i compiler and Rational tool promotion ends on November 30. This deal is available in the United States and in Canada (priced in Canadian dollars), and I have no idea if it is being offered in Europe or Asia. But I can tell you this: if you are from these regions of the globe, and you are willing to spend money now, you should absolutely demand the same deal or tell IBM to take a hike.

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