Re: Number of installed AS/400s

>Supposedly there are over 500,000 AS/400s installed around the world.
>
>Is there a document on the internet that verifies this number.  Also, it
>would be nice to see a count of AS/400 installations by U.S. state and by
>foreign country.
>
>I got into an argument with a NT guy that wouldn't believe it when I told
>him there was that many AS/400s out there.  I would like to show him
>something that backs me up.
>

Bob--

IBM plays this pretty close to the vest. They don't broadcast many specific
numbers and most of the numbers known are collected from anecdotal sources
(the latest numbers are closer to 600,000). However, IBM does have a
"Sparkler" document available from Barb McNair at mcnairb@us.ibm.com that
probably comes as close to putting what you want in writing as anything.
I've included most of the Sparkler text below, but you could also email Barb
and ask for your own copy of hte the AS/400 media relations Sparkler
document.

For what it's worth though, give up. Who cares if the boneheaded NT guy
doesn't believe you? If you get in a numbers fight with you, he'll kill you.
MS sells more copies of NT Server in year than all copies of OS/400
combined. However, if you want to jab the NT cowboy, mention that last year
NT's market share fell 1% (from 36% to 35%) for the first time in several
years, and that Linux went from 7% to 17% of the server software market
(according to IDC as quoted from the MS story in the 17 May issue of
Business Week).

rp


IBM AS/400 SPARKLERS

• AS/400* is the world's most popular multi-user, commercial business
computer with more than 500,000 systems shipped.

• AS/400 is a growing platform, increasing by over 60,000 systems per
year.**

• AS/400 is a key business system in 97% of the Fortune 100 industrial
companies and 95% of the Fortune 500 and second-tier companies.**

• Fifty two percent of AS/400 customers own four or more AS/400 systems.

• IBM delivers an AS/400 to a customer every 10 minutes of every workday.

• AS/400 systems are sold in more than 150 countries worldwide, and can
display and accept information in 51 national languages.

• AS/400 offers more than 30,000 applications, as well as more than 2,700
new e-business applications, tools and services are available for AS/400.

• A 1997 Computerworld Buyers Survey rated AS/400 #1 in overall customer
satisfaction.

• With an astounding 99.9+ percent system availability, AS/400 is more
reliable than any other computer.

• AS/400 is 12 percent less expensive to use than Hewlett-Packard 9000, and
a better value than selected PC LAN and Digital systems, according to an IDC
study.

• For very small businesses in the US with under 30 employees, cost per
month per user is 8% higher for Unix, 38% higher for Novell NetWare and 4%
higher for Windows NT than an AS/400 solution.***

• AS/400 is the only system in the industry that is totally 64-bit from top
to bottom...from its operating system, database and applications.

• AS/400 has the industry's largest suite of 64-bit applications.

• AS/400 is the only platform that preserves existing customer software
investments– letting users instantly exploit the 64-bit environment when
they upgrade to new AS/400e series with PowerPC RISC-based technology.

• Since AS/400's inception in 1988, AS/400 researchers and developers have
earned 603 patents.  A total of 111 patents were earned in 1996, the most in
the division's history.

• Performance of high-end AS/400 systems has increased an average of 60 to
70 percent a year since 1990, while price/performance has improved an
average of 30 percent a year.

• The AS/400e series provides 4.6 times the processing capabilities of
previous AS/400s.

• There are more than 8,000 IBM Business Partners and Independent Software
Vendors worldwide.  Twelve Application Solution Support Centers around the
globe help application developers incorporate multimedia, telephony and fax
into their applications.

• More than 1,800 business intelligence tools, such as Executive Information
System (EIS), Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), Decision Support System
(DSS) and report writers, are available for AS/400 data warehouses.

• AS/400 is the fastest growing business intelligence platform in the
industry with more than 3,000 businesses implementing AS/400 for business
intelligence purposes in 1997.

• Using three 12-way AS/400s, companies can load data at a peak of 110
million records, or 60 gigabytes (GB), per hour.

• AS/400 manages over 10,000 terabytes (TB) of information today.

• More than 16 million users sign on to AS/400 systems every day.

• A high-end AS/400e series can now support up to 7,000 attached
workstations. AS/400 can support up to 16  local area networks each with
hundreds of clients.

• AS/400e Series, model 150 is designed for small businesses with a starting
price of $7,995 (U.S.).

###

* Trademark or registered trademark of International Business Machines
Corporation.

** Patricia Seybold Group, "Domino on the AS/400," David S. Marshak, January
1998.

*** International Data Corporation, "Cost-to-Use for US & German Very Small
Businesses," Chris Christiansen & Andreas Zilch, 1996.

**** International Data Corporation, "The Value Proposition of AS/400e
series 150 an e-server for Customers and Business Partners," Chris
Christiansen & Bill Manning, September 1997.

6/98
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