IBM Builds Out Express Advantage Line
Express Advantage products and services are largely sold through IBM channel partners and are frequently offered with financing packages.
Topping the list of the new products are the BladeCenter JS23 and JS43 Express servers, which are based on the Power6 processor technology and run on AIX, IBM i and Linux operating systems. IBM said the servers are ideal for midsize organizations undergoing infrastructure consolidation or running applications that require scalable performance and high memory capacity.
A new hardware/software package that IBM is calling a "comprehensive data protection solution" includes the Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack software bundled with the DS3000, DS4000 and DS5000 Express series disk systems, and the System x 3550 server. IBM said the package offers a complete data storage and data recovery system.
"Many companies don't realize how important it is to back up crucial data until after they suffer a disaster and lose everything," said Anthony Bongiovanni, president of MicroStrategies, an IBM channel partner, in a statement.
Some companies are increasingly using Web conferencing as they impose travel restrictions to cut costs. The Express Advantage services now include LotusLive Meetings, a Web conferencing service added to the LotusLive online services IBM unveiled earlier this year.
And on the services side, IBM now offers the IBM Remote Managed Services " Express Remote Managed Infrastructure Services. Included are services for Linux server management and monitoring, managing and reporting for unified communications devices. IBM said the services could cut IT management costs more than 20 percent. IBM also debuted new data migration services for open systems attached to IBM System Storage disk systems.