ServerProven Rebate Program Gets Some Tweaks

For several years now, IBM has used its ServerProven rebate offering to help boost sales of its iSeries and xSeries servers and the third-party solutions that run on them. Last week, IBM made some tweaks the to latest ServerProven rebate, which was announced at the end of November 2005.

The ServerProven rating means that a particular piece of software has been tested by IBM and its ISV partners to make sure it works properly on the latest server and operating system releases from Big Blue and that the combination is installed and running in at least one real-world account. IBM gives ISVs with ServerProven status co-marketing and advertising money, plus rebates to end users who buy these solutions. All through 2005, IBM’s North American unit was offering rebates of between $250 and $68,000 for end-user companies that buy ServerProven software on a new iSeries or i5 machine; additionally, in Europe, when pushing certain ServerProven applications, both the customer and the ISV each get the rebate in U.S. dollars, which obviously has the effect of making the ISVs extremely motivated to sell a new solution on a new server to a new customer.

With the February 27 ServerProven rebate deal, IBM has done a couple of different things. First, it has added in the new System i5 machines so they can be part of the ServerProven solution. And, IBM has removed the iSeries 8XX boxes, so you can’t buy an old machine and get the rebates, which you could do prior to February 27. Under the deal, customers buying a new System i5 can get a rebate that ranges from $3,000 on an i5 520 to $68,000 on a big i5 595. Model 8XX machines can be upgraded as part of the deal, however, with rebates ranging from $600 on a Model 810 to $19,200 on a Model 890. Upgrades in the iSeries i5 line are also covered by the ServerProven rebates, ranging from $900 on an i5 520 to $20,400 on the i5 595. All of these prices are the same as they were in November. Customers buying a new xSeries 366 server can get a $500 rebate, and those buying an xSeries 460 server can get a $2,500 rebate. The last change is that IBM has removed selected ERP suites from the list of eligible solutions, and these packages now have their own rebate deal (see the separate story in this issue for more on that).