Re: New i5 Express Models

[Trevor Perry <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I have just started a new job with an ISV. Our software usually fits 1-20
users - this is the T(iny) in SMB, somewhat smaller than Scott is looking
for. The prices of the 520s were always questioned in the sales process. The
cost of a new configured 515 Express fits much much better into our customer
base. For us, this is a great move!

Just a note, with 5 users, the config we use runs around $10K - with 10
users, it is just around $12K. The latter was the number used by Jim Herring
in last week's Fireside chat after adding "users, disk and memory".

And, as a small development shop using a 520 Express edition, we can now
look at a couple of 515 models so we can have one for development and one
for production.

> From my perspective, I know this price does not get a System i into every
small developer's basement. It does seem to be small enough to afford at the
50% discount that Richard mentioned - if you can solve the "partner" issue.
Or, it could now be that 2 or 3 developers could pool their resources and
afford something that would give them relatively large amounts of System i
capacity?



On 4/16/07 5:09 AM, "Scott Klement" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I'm more than a little disappointed.  My organization had been waiting
> for this announcement -- we had previously been considering a 520
> system, and wanted to wait for this announcement because it was going to
> make the i5 competitively priced! It didn't.
>
> With the features/users we need, the 520 is cheaper. In fact, the 515
> can't even support all of the peripherals we want (not enough expansion
> slots) so even if we wanted to pay the premium price for the faster
> system, it really can't be done.
>
> The price on the 525 puts it completely out of the picture, at least,
> with the features/users we require.
>
> Yes, I'm disappointed.  IBM really isn't offering anything new or
> exciting with these systems, at least that I can fathom!  The "IBM is
> now friendly to SMBs" appears to just be a marketing gimmick, not an
> actual change in IBM's strategy.
>
>
> Jon Paris wrote:
> > Am I the only one who is a little disappointed by the recent
> > announcements?
> >
> > From earlier statements by Mark Shearer and others I had been
> > expecting to see something oriented towards the smaller developer.
> > Maybe $5 - 6K or so. As best I can tell the new ones are a minimum of
> > $8K and the configuration at that level more than a little memory and
> > disk constrained.
> >
> > Maybe I'm mismembering, but surely there have been model 270s in this
> >  price category before?
> >
> > What am I missing guys?  Right now it looks as if my hopes of owning
> > a system are back on hold again.
> >
> > Jon Paris Partner400
> >
> > www.Partner400.com