Butler Group Predicts IBM Mainframe Growth in Vertical and Emerging Markets

Market Wire, January, 2007

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that independent IT research and advisory organization, The Butler Group, believes mainframe adoption will continue to grow in existing markets as well as emerging markets including China, India and South America due to continued advancements in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and virtualization technologies on the platform.

Butler Group's "The King is Dead -- Long Live the Mainframe" article specifically points to WebSphere Application Servers on System z as enhancing the ability to utilize SOA and Linux on the mainframe in providing virtualization tools for a single computing platform. Additionally, the report cites the mainframe's "green" capabilities, describing the power-saving features and small footprint (27-square feet) as, "desirable for large customers in the financial and government sectors."

Other key differentiators of the System z identified by the Butler Group include:

--  One z9 mainframe can support many Virtual Machines (VMs), allowing for
    quick and simple implementation of new VMs;
--  The mainframe requires fewer people to manage than equivalent systems.
    Labor costs can amount to 80% of the total cost of running a data center,
    so this is an area where mainframes can save money;
--  The System z mainframes are certified to EAL5 security standards;
--  The z9 mainframes can handle up to 6,000 Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
    handshakes per second due to Crypto-Express2 PCI-X adapters.  This helps
    enable secure on-line transactions.
    

"In China and other emerging markets, companies are deploying mainframe technology to achieve the security, economic advantages and reliability required to keep pace in a globally integrated economy," said Jim Stallings, IBM general manager, System z. "Just as important, the new mainframe is expected to play a growing role in many vertical markets from financial services to healthcare and retail."

For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com

For more information about Butler Group, please visit www.butlergroup.com

Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine

Contact: Bruce McConnel 914-766-4427 wmcconn@us.ibm.com