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| Picture courtesy of IBM, Inc |
When Ross Mauri, General Manager IBM Z, briefed us on their newest
offering, he quoted Steve Jobs, “You’ve got to start with the customer
experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around.” Not
bad advice.
We long ago learned that selling IT (both products and
services) on the basis of technological “speeds ‘n feeds” was a non-starter for
many buyers. We found success by listening to clients to understand what the
client was trying to achieve, then identifying what they need to succeed. It is
apparent that IBM is listening and agrees.
Announced were two new additions to the IBM Z® Family. First is the IBM z14™ ZR1, built to
enhance trust in a highly secure cloud. Next is the IBM
LinuxONE™ Rockhopper II which offers flexibility and speedy scaling to
allow scale-up growth.
Prior to hearing any details on these new systems, we had a
number of informal discussions with mainframe users attending Think 2018. Here
is what they were hoping to hear from IBM about mainframes:
- · Significantly increased processing power with multiple configuration options,
- · More flexibility and simplicity in system infrastructure configuration,
- · Standardization that allows semi-customized systems,
- · Expanded I/O capability,
- · Smaller overall footprint,
- · Pricing transparency,
- · App security.
Digital
Transformation hits every data center
The appearance of digital transformation forced enterprises
to confront and deal with an increasing number of challenges. Threats to
security, extreme spikes in workloads, etc. The impact on data centers was
significant. Especially being felt in the demand for strong, broad-based
security, extensive, intelligent analytics, automated machine-learning
capabilities and open, connected and secure cloud services.
When IBM designed and introduced the Z family to address these challenges,
they were primarily the concern of large-scale enterprises. Today, digital
transformation continues to spread to the extent that these challenges are
being experienced in enterprises and businesses of all sizes.
The new additions to the Z family are IBM’s response. While
they share common family capabilities, such as pervasive encryption, Secure
Service Containers, analytics, machine learning, etc., they also include
extensive enhancements to address the most pressing customer and user needs.
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| New 19” Rack configuration |
Design standardization in both the z14 ZR1 and the LinuxONE™
Rockhopper II along with a smaller I/O configuration means customers can choose
server, switch and storage elements that fit their needs. For example, both fit
in a 19” standard-sized rack leaving a significant (16U) in-frame space
available for other components. This gives maximum flexibility and scalability.
For system administrators, a new mobile management software
allows remote systems monitoring and management including push notification of
events for more efficient operation.
For those worried about response times for I/O sensitive
workloads, the IBM zHyperLink Express offers a direct connect short distance
link between z14 servers and FICON storage. IBM has found that it can cut
response times by up to 50%. OLTP workloads have much faster access to data.
Batch processing windows are reduced as Db2 index splits go faster. The result
is increased customer satisfaction and low operational costs.
Speeds
n’ Feeds
This section is for the “speeds ‘n feeds” folks. Here are a
few tech specs. You can find more here . For z14 ZR1, the number (4, 12, 24,
30) of processors is fully configurable. The entry level system provides a full
88 MIPS for capacity setting A01. The RAIM memory runs with a minimum of 64 GB
to a max of 8TB. IBM expects the largest z14 ZR1 configuration to provide up to
13% more total z/OS and up to 60% more Linux on Z capacity than the largest z13s.
For LinuxONE Rockhopper II the number of cores is also
configurable (4, 12, 24, 30).
The statistics go on and on. In short, these new systems were
designed from the very start to meet the demands and needs of real customers.
In
Summary
IBM has indeed listened to its customers. Nearly every hot
button item on the list we collected from clients has been addressed. Pricing
was not mentioned in the session.
However, in a separate briefing just before announcement, IBM
indicated that the price points for these systems are set to keep current customers,
as well as attract new clients and workloads to mainfrome platforms.
Other items touched on during the announcement, and apparent
at THINK 2018 were aggressive efforts to add partners and alliances to the
mainframe ecosystem. There exists a much more visible focus on developers with
stronger DevOps products and API enhancements. Also apparent is the aggressive
attention paid to enlarging the number of applications and open source
solutions running on the mainframe.
So, it was no surprise when Mr. Mauri indicated that last
year, IBM had the largest number of new-to-the-mainframe customers in a decade.
He also indicated that he now has a dedicated sales force pursuing opportunities.
For our part, we are seeing a lot more interest in the
mainframe. From pervasive encryption to the extensive efforts in mainframe
education to the increasing success in promoting the mainframe as a mainstream
solution, the number of mainframe believers appears to be growing.
Congratulations to Ross Mauri, his whole team and partners on their success so
far. And, be sure to check out these additions to the Z family.
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