IBM tackles AS/400's image problem

Think of all the attributes you'd like to see in the ideal multi-purpose server. Would you like it to support thousands of applications, full 64bit processing and system availability of higher than 99.94 per cent? Would you also like it to provide mainframe levels of scalability and competitive price/performance, and offer native Java support for integrating mobile and handheld devices. And finally, would you like to boast an installed base of 650,000 systems?

Sound interesting? Want to know more?

While IBM's AS/400 server boasts all this and more, the problem that Big Blue is wrestling with is improving the image of a system that is dull but worthy.

As part of its efforts to extend interest, the company this month announced a major revamp of the product, one it claims is the most important evolution in the system's lifecycle since the introduction of 64bit Risc in 1995.

"The AS/400 has an image problem," says Phil Payne, managing director of analyst Isham Research. "It carries too much baggage, and is often seen by non-AS/400 users as an old fashioned, mid-1990s server. People don't think it's a very exciting product."

IBM knows this. "Our challenge over the next year is to raise awareness of the AS/400," admits Drew Flaada, IBM's director of AS/400 product management. "If you were to look at AS/400 as a standalone business, it's the same size as Sun [Microsystems] but it doesn't attract anything like the publicity generated by Sun. We have to do something about that."

Big Blue's first efforts to garner interest is by citing figures, such as the new top of the range AS/400 is 360 per cent more powerful than its predecessor, and is the highest performing single image server IBM has ever produced, beating even the S/390 mainframe. It has a new range of features that IBM believes pitches it favourably against Sun, Hewlett Packard, Compaq and IBM's own RS/6000 in any technical specification wish-list for ebusiness servers. But if you're not an AS/400 user, this might come as something of a surprise.

Another approach to resolve the image issue is through the chip-set. The AS/400 has been chosen as IBM's first server to exploit its silicon-on-insulator technology and copper wiring, claimed to deliver 30 per cent better performance.

Analysts are enthusiastic about its prospects. "We believe AS/400 is a strong platform that can be leveraged well for the online world," reports US investment analyst firm Salomon Smith Barney. The opinion is echoed by a UK analyst with Illuminata: "We are very enthusiastic about the AS/400."

An eye on Windows NT
So where will this hoped for growth beyond the customer base emerge from? Direct competition with Windows NT is one obvious area for expansion. "With the rapid growth of dotcoms, scalability for NT users will become an issue," says Payne. "Current NT installations are difficult to scale, and the AS/400 is a solution to this."

Salomon Smith Barney agrees, reporting that "internet sites are having their growing pains. One feature of the AS/400 is the integrated transaction logs used to track system failures and work on fixing problems off-line. Unix and NT systems do not have this. As customers focus on availability of systems, these reliability features should help differentiate IBM's AS/400".

IBM is even considering the possibility of rebranding to change the negative image of the AS/400. At a technical and commercial level, the AS/400 and RS/6000s overlap greatly. Both products share many of the same components, their development teams have been combined, and they are even manufactured on the same production line in Rochester, Minnesota.

In comparison, Compaq uses a common hardware brand, AlphaServer, for a system that supports multiple operating systems. What about an 'IBM Server', supporting both OS/400 and Aix (IBM's operating systems for the AS/400 and the RS/6000 respectively)? The AS/400 already supports Unix applications through its Portable Application Solutions Environment (PASE), a native Aix partition running within OS/400.

"We looked at merging the product lines last year, and the decision was made not to," confirms Frank Soltis, IBM's chief architect for the AS/400. "The decision is a business and marketing one, based upon keeping different brands for different markets. Personally, I wanted them to merge. If that business decision changes, we can combine the products technically very quickly. This is IBM; decisions change. Who knows?"

IBM has already announced its commitment to support Linux across its whole server family, and plans are in place for the AS/400. "We expect to demonstrate Linux on the AS/400 by the end of this year," says Ian Jarman, AS/400 product marketing manager. IBM cannot yet confirm a shipping date for AS/400 Linux, but expects to see this during 2001.

Admittedly, a relaunch of the AS/400 could muddy the water for a loyal customer base with a positive emotional investment in the existing brand. But with a product now scalable from NT-style web serving up to mainframe-performance transaction processing, Unix support and Linux availability to come, IBM is making the right effort to update the image and appeal to the ebusiness generation.