RE: COMMON - iSeries Announcement

Just got this off a DominoWire mailing:

IBM GIVES BIRTH TO SIBLING OF DEDICATED SERVER FOR DOMINO
http://www.groupcomputing.com

Tearing a page from the book that brought Domino on the iSeries so
much success, this week IBM launched a new, preloaded WebSphere
server. The iSeries Powered by WebSphere bundles the latest WebSphere
release, Version 4, with a model 270 running V5R1. It is scheduled
for release mid-November. But although the new server should ease
WebSphere installation woes, critics say the killer combo offers
little to draw in new iSeries users.

Although images of the DSD may immediately spring to mind, the
WebSphere server more closely resembles the IBM eServer for J.D.
Edwards, says John Quarantello, IBM's iSeries e-business manager. The
DSD is a specific piece of hardware optimized for a Domino workload --
and, before a recently announced V5R1 PTF, restricted from most other
types of workloads -- but the iSeries Powered by WebSphere is an off-
the-floor box with as much multiple-workload capability as any
standard model 270.

But while the new box should be successful with existing iSeries
customers, it won't likely lure new customers from other platforms,
says Tom Bittman, Gartner Group vice president and research director.
"[IBM] went from idea to delivery in a couple months," he says.
"There's a real benefit, but this isn't a strategic change in the
architecture making a fundamental difference. No matter how [IBM]
positions it, this is going to be useful only within the install base
-- and mainly for companies that were going to be doing WebSphere
anyway."

-- Jill R. Aitoro, Group Computing Industry Reporter _______________


Best Regards

Fritz Hayes
Atwater Associates
503-636-5914