Able-One Systems Podcast

Able-One Systems Podcast


Why the IBM Power System and the IBM OS is a sound investment for your business?

August 01, 2016

With Dave Perco, Director of Power Server Sales at Able-One Systems, and Kyle Foster, Leader of IBM server Business in Canada.

As the IBM Power System is currently in its 8th generation (Power8) and IBM i 7.3 was rolled out this April, IBM is committed to maintaining its history of developing new generations for both hardware and software. The commitment to deliver Power9 has set IBM with a deadline to begin rollout of the next generation Power System in 2018 and Power 10 is well into the research & development process. From a hardware perspective, IBM’s roadmap extends over many, many years. On the other hand, IBM i updates will continue to have the features and capabilities that clients love. The current public support roadmap for the most recent version of IBM i lasts 10 years (2026). These outlooks and commitments are not new and are based on the standard IBM has stood by for over 25 years now - ensuring comfort and security from IBM and its partners towards customers. Among mid-range servers, IBM i total cost of ownership (TCO) has gotten better with every generation of Power/IBM i. The enduring value proposition of IBM i is that it's a system that allows clients to focus on running their business and not have to focus on IT. Due to the fact that IBM i is an integrated and automated solution with operating systems, database, web server, security, workload management, virtualization, storage management, etc., you can truly let the system do its thing while you focus on growing your business. Compared to other platforms in the market: windows SQL, Linux, Oracle all running on x86, Power and IBM i deliver savings across many categories, including:

Hardware & hardware maintenance costs
Software licenses costs
Support for software licenses
Personnel costs
Facilities costs

The reason these costs are less on Power/IBM i are due to the aggregate multiplier effect from the advantages of having a Power/IBM i infrastructure. First, is the advantage derived from being able to do the same amount of work on fewer servers. Commonly referred to as a “higher workload density”, this allows for more workloads on one system, driving much greater utilization from each individual asset. Second, is the advantage of superior virtualization that allows to consolidate more and more workloads. And finally, the lower personnel costs that ultimately stem from tight integration in the IBM i OS stack with its integrated database, web serving, integrated security and integrated/automated workload management. The kind of savings that can be generated compared to other platforms are substantial and has been documented by many industry analysts and researchers over the years. For example, the International Technology Group (ITG) published a research paper 18 months ago comparing the 3-year TCO of IBM i/Power vs 2 other platforms (Windows SQL on x86, Linux/Oracle on x86). On average, IBM i on Power was 45% less costly over 3 years then Windows SQL on commodity x86 hardware and 51% less costly that Linux/Oracle on commodity x86 hardware. The study shows even the total cost of acquisition (TCA) was 35% less than windows and 46% less than Linux. The savings therefore truly start on Day 1 and continue into the future. While some people say that Power servers are old proprietary technology, Kyle explains that old is only an issue if the platform is not constantly innovating. For the past 25 years IBM has made huge investments in IBM i to bring in all disruptive technologies of today to the over 150,000 clients relying on IBM i everyday to run critical business workloads and recording systems. Over the years, IBM has

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