Anticipating a growing need for larger pre-configured systems, IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) has unveiled a new product line of integrated sets of its hardware and software, called PureSystems.
“We see this as a major new category of systems, one different from appliances and custom solutions,” said Marie Wieck, IBM general manager for application and integration middleware.
Unlike appliances, which tend to address niche uses, PureSystems packages will have a potentially wide user base, given the general duties they can undertake. And unlike custom packages, they can be deployed relatively quickly, Wieck said. These two packages “pre-integrate the hardware and the software as a single new system family,” she said.IBM’s idea behind these packages is that they can cut the amount of time it would take organizations to build and deploy servers and applications. IBM has configured the packages so that they can be deployed and expanded with minimal effort.
Getting an enterprise application up and running in a closely regulated IT environment can take months. Much of the work is specific to matching the technology to the internal environment, such as configuring the system to meet organizational policies and to interact with other internal systems. But IBM managers are convinced that using its pre-configured systems will still cut deployment by a third of the time or more, as IBM has done most of the work in getting the internal componentry to work together.
“Things that used to take up to six months to deploy can be done as little as in two weeks,” with these packages, Wieck said. They eliminate tasks such as setting up a database or a group of servers as a cluster, or linking an application with the company’s personnel directory of possible users.
The first two entries of this new line of systems are designed to meet common needs for most organizations. Wieck expected these two packages could be used across as much as 80 per cent of IBM’s customer base. One package, PureFlex, provides basic a basic computing infrastructure, including servers, operating systems, virtualization environment and middleware. The other package, PureApplications, deployed on top of PureFlex, provides an environment of hosting enterprise Java Web applications.
The packages could be used, for instance, to build a public or private cloud, or be used to launch a new internal application. While IBM is selling these systems for use within an organization, the systems also are designed to provide an easy way to transfer workloads to IBM’s SmartCloud services. With this connectivity, organizations can transfer excess workload off-site, rather than buy more equipment or wait for computing capacity to be freed from other duties.
PureSystems packages start at about US$100,000 each. The systems use an operating system based on Linux, and can run on either x86 or IBM’s own Power processors.
Chris Pratt, strategic initiatives executive with IBM Canada, said channel partners can choose from pre-configured systems or opt to do the configuration themselves, sell it with out without services, and implement it as either an infrastructure play or an application play with the programs bundled and pre-loaded.
“I think there’s a tremendous opportunity for the hardware channel to offer integration with existing systems or deploy it on its own, as well as for new partners coming in to lay on an (application) pattern,” said Pratt. “This is aimed across the market; it will scale up and down.”
IBM seems a strong play for ISVs as well. Curtis Page, COO of Alphinat, a Montreal-based IBM partner and developer that helps non-technical staff deploy applications, said his company was involved with IBM developing the offering from its early stages, and he sees it really accelerating service delivery and changing the way clients provision applications, whether on premise or through a cloud-delivery model. He expects the time to provision and deploy new applications to drop substantially.
“I don’t think there’s anything else like this (on the market) in the sense of a fully integrated system,” said Page. “It really shines for us with the dynamic provisioning and the capability for self-diagnostics and self-correction.”
He sees it being well suited for deployment into enterprise environments, and scaling into the SMB through service-provider private clouds.
The release of this line of systems is a timely move on IBM’s part, said Matt Eastwood, who is the IDC group vice-president and general manager for the analyst firm’s enterprise platforms group. In the years to come organizations will need more integrated systems like these.
“We believe the market is on the cusp of a fairly significant inflection. Businesses are under pressure to move faster and the traditional silos in many IT departments often slow things down,” Eastwood said. “It is also becoming more difficult for IT to get price performance gains out of general purpose systems. Users want to focus on applications and business data, not core infrastructure.”
PureSystems will be distributed with a drop-ship model to start, and Avnet Technology Solutions will work with its partners on installation and integration said Fred Cuen, who runs the IBM business for the Phoenix, Az.-based distributor. In the future, though, Cuen said IBM’s Systems Builder program will allow distributors like Avnet to further configure and customize the systems for partners and their clients.
“The whole notion of integrated solutions continues to be a focus for Avnet and our partners,” said Cuen. “There’s a of excitement for this from the partners I’ve talked to. It gives partners a new opportunity to talk to a customer, make a difference in their environment, and take that trusted advisor role.”
