• Mad Dog 21/21: The Next (And Maybe Last) Mainframe

  February 13, 2017 Hesh Wiener

  For the past several mainframe generations IBM has announced new large systems about every three years. The current line of big iron, the System z13, emerged in 2015, so it wouldn’t surprise anyone if the z14 or whatever it is called reaches customers next year, in 2018. Meanwhile, this year Ginni Rometty turns 60, IBM’s traditional CEO retirement age, and, like her predecessor, she could stick around one more year as the company’s chairman.

  The upshot: Rometty’s successor as CEO will enjoy the sales boost of a fresh mainframe product cycle. And if IBM is making money …

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• Debugging IBM’s New ‘Executive Guide’ For IBM i

  February 8, 2017 Alex Woodie

  Explaining the value of IBM i to a business executive is not an easy thing to do. Because so much of the computing world today runs on the Intel X86 architecture, many execs aren’t even aware there are alternatives. But there are, and the IBM i server, along with the System z mainframe, are among the last of a dying breed.

  IBM recently rolled out an online resource designed to help IBM i professionals explain this weird thing called IBM i. Weighing in at nearly 7,000 words, the IBM i Strategy and Roadmap attempts to lay out the basics of …

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• Power Systems Is Now Cognitive Systems

  January 30, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  For as long as we can remember, every couple of years or so IBM has changed the executives that have been in charge of its midrange systems and over a slightly longer term, of maybe five to seven years, it has rebranded or somehow significantly changed the marketing message driving those midrange systems. It looks like 2017 might be a year for both.

  In a series of brief internal memos put out by Ginni Rometty, the company’s president, chief executive officer, and chairman, and Tom Rosamilia, senior vice president of IBM Systems group, IBM is rejiggering its executive lineup and …

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• Drilling Down Into IBM’s System Group

  January 23, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  It is a new year, and we are all looking forward to a growing economy and some much needed competition for compute in the datacenter as there is a resurgence of interest in the Power processor and a growing probability that ARM server chip makers, particularly Qualcomm and Applied Micro, are going to see some traction this year.

  It is with this in mind that we ponder IBM’s fourth quarter financial results, which were announced last Thursday, and more specifically think about what may be in the cards for the Power Systems platform in 2017 and beyond. First, let’s go …

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• IBM Gives Power Systems Rebates For Linux Workloads

  January 23, 2017 Timothy Prickett Morgan

  Big Blue has made no secret whatsoever that it wants to ride the Linux wave up with the Power Systems platform, and its marketeers are doing what they can to sweeten the hardware deals as best they can without adversely affecting the top and bottom line at IBM in general and the Power Systems division in particular to help that Linux cause along.

  To be precise, IBM has rolled out another in a line of its “first in location” rebate offerings, which was a common tactic when IBM was trying to sell AS/400 or RS/6000 systems against competitive platforms or …

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