Re: IBM will announce two new System i models, 515 and 525 on Apr. 10. -- MIDRANGE-L

Back in February I saw some specs on Java performance between Wintel and the 515/525 but I can't recall what they were.

As far as the "getting it working" is concerned. That is where the BP should be adding value. I wouldn't recommend a 515 new customer self install a 5-10 person shop any more than I would recommend someone "self install" a Wintel server running Windows Small Business Server in a small shop. The BP should build either margin or services into the sale to make sure it is smooth and successful. That applies just as much in this 515 market as it would to the Windows SBS market.

My hope is that with some help from IBM, we can "pre-package" a common (and Open Source) set of applications to resell to customers. The systems would basically be pre-packaged and ready to install and remotely administer. The job of my company would be to go on-site (or remote, depending upon the application suite) and install the system. We would train them in administration and support them with problem solving. This is exactly what we would do in a Wintel/SBS installation

You going it alone on an install as a developer is understandable. But no BP in their right mind would order the system, drop ship it and say "Thanks for the sale", no matter how small the system.

Pete

albartell wrote:

The possibility of competing at price points is exciting, but are there any
reliable compare and contrast spec sheets out there the are convincing
enough to make somebody choose a System i5 over a Wintel? Again, I am
guessing this was done in part to gain NEW business and not simply maintain
existing customers.

I am trying to imagine somebody picking up a System i5 with the intention of
running PHP or Java web apps on it and what they would have to go through to
get the thing to work. My experience was interesting in that I fought for
the better part of a day to get the LAN Console working. Can then configure
the entire machine without going into the green screen? If they could then
I think IBM is taking right steps.

Aaron Bartell

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Pete Helgren
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 12:23 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: IBM will announce two new System i models, 515 and 525 on Apr.
10.

It is all very sweet. I know one entity that has just 3 users on the
system. The best I could do at the time was $25k (with a few growth
tweaks). Now they could have gotten in for around $10k and had a fairly
robust system they could grow with.

This could open plenty of application opportunities. In our case Nathan, we
compete in a market where very small users will compare a $40k solution
using System i to a $10k system from Dell, HP or even IBM. Now the System i might be about $15k. This evens the playing field at our
end of the market, even though it is still early in the game. IBM is at
least trying to breath some new life into the platform.

Pete