AS/400 Line: In With The New (But Not Out With The Old)

While in past years hardware-level innovations have sounded the death knell of previous boxes in a server product line, IBM Corp. is trying to build a new approach that takes the accelerated pace of changes in servers and the rapid growth of Internet-based companies into account.

IBM is pumping up the performance of its AS/400 server line by an estimated 20 percent to 30 percent by basing its latest versions around the world's first production silicon-on-insulator (SOI) microchips. But even as it makes ready for the August availability of the new servers--the AS/400e 820, 830 and 840--it's also planning for the future of the 700 series servers.

IBM will reduce prices on the 700 series and treat both the 800 and 700 series devices as members of the same product line, allowing end customers and solution providers greater flexibility in determining the best path for their businesses.

"Typically, we'd not sell older products like this, but we're going to be selling the 700 series strongly as well as the 800 series," says Ian Jarnan, AS/400 product marketing manager. "The plan is to align the prices of all these products to make the price/performance levels similar."

The hope is that this strategy will maintain sales for the 700 series between Monday's announcement of the 800 series and its arrival in late summer. "There should be no stall in the market with this strategy," Jarnan says. "For many people, upgrading within the 700 series will be the right choice. We know people will buy the 800 series, but it's always the case when we introduce new servers that people still want to buy the old ones. This strategy will help keep these customers happy."

The debut of SOI technology in a midrange box is also unusual. The 800 series exploits the copper-chip wiring technologies rolled out in new RS/6000 models last year; SOI technology will "find its way into the high end later this year," Jarnan says. SOI will also serve as a building block for the IBM Power4 processor, intended for use in future iterations of the AS/400 and RS/6000.

The new models also include OS/400 V4R5, a high-end enterprise system that is 3.6 times faster than the previous generation of AS/400 servers.

The servers are aimed at complex business applications and applications associated with front-end Internet-based solutions, like supply-chain management, CRM, server-side Java, Domino, business intelligence and B2B.

IBM also introduced the AS/400e 270 and 250 servers, aimed at lower-end applications, and new Dedicated Servers for Domino, designed to run multiple Lotus Domino applications, including e-mail, Web serving and CRM applications.

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