System i Morphs Into Power and 'i'

Note: On April 2, IBM announced the new Power 6 platform that will run i5/OS, Linux or AIX replacing System i and p with a single platform. This article written by Chris Maxcer at SystemiNetwork is from the System i perspective.

In a bold consolidation move, IBM has removed and replaced the identity of the System i by turning it into an "i" operating system that runs on IBM's hottest POWER6-based hardware. Gone is the old identity of the integrated system, and along with it, presumably, the associations of a legacy system. The company has replaced System i and System p with a new line of unified servers with simplified pricing. The line is now officially IBM Power Systems, known as the IBM Power platform, with hardware server models branded with Power, as in, the Power 520, which will run AIX, Linux, or i5/OS. And i5/OS, by the way, really is simply "i." IBM is essentially shedding the old, keeping the best, and embracing the new.

Mark Shearer, IBM's vice president of marketing and offerings for the IBM Business Systems group, along with Ross Mauri, general manager of the IBM Power Systems group, jointly unveiled the massive change at a special town hall meeting today at the COMMON user group conference in Nashville. Due to a personal scheduling issue, I wasn't able to be at the town hall meeting, but I -- and several of my colleagues -- were pre-briefed at COMMON by Shearer and Ian Jarman, who is now the manager of Power Systems Software. Look for additional coverage of the town hall meeting itself here tomorrow.

OK, let's get this out: WOW! This is big news. Sure, the idea of combining the System i and System p on a single platform has been banging around Rochester and bouncing out into the world for years, but ideas and preparation are a far cry from an actual product launch. Some clarification is in order -- the consolidation, the unity, the shifts in naming . . . aren't particularly astounding. The ramifications are astounding. The trickle effects of this announcement and launch will work their way throughout the business partner and ISV world and down into organizations of all sizes, including those organizations and professionals that still, perhaps defiantly, call System i AS/400.

As Shearer let on during the opening session at COMMON, he is clearly amped by the changes, which he said were on par with the launch of the AS/400 twenty years ago. At first glance, his words seem more hyperbole than reality, but upon closer inspection, today's news has the potential to reach deep into System i-loving organizations and give them the ability to remain sheltered in tradition -- or step out in a brave new world with a surprising range of benefits.

Along side the announcement of the consolidation and naming, IBM introduced two new Power servers and the JS12 blade. If you're wondering about IBM's naming conventions, here's the clarification: If you're referring to the POWER6 processor, "POWER" is capitalized. If you're referring to the servers, it's just "Power."

The new IBM Power 520 Express server is a 1-, 2-, or 4-core 4.2 GHz POWER6 processor-based entry server. The 520 with IBM i installed starts at under $9,000 and will be available April 18. IBM also expects that its most popular configuration of the i Edition for Power 520 will be under $12,000.

IBM also introduced the Power 550 Express server, which is a 2-to-8 core server that uses 3.5 or 4.2 GHz processors. It will be available May 23, but pricing isn't yet available.

The blade is the IBM BladeCenter JS12 Express Blade, which is a 2-core 3.8 GHz POWER6 processor blade that slides into the already industry-popular, SMB-sized BladeCenter S chassis. It will be available May 30, and the JS12 Blade itself is under $5,000 -- and get this -- the JS12 Blade, when placed in a BladeCenter S chassis, will be priced virtually identically to the popular configuration of the i Edition of the Power 520.

Shearer said the goal with this aggressive pricing model is to ensure that price is not a factor for smaller organizations considering their upgrade options. If a company is interested in the value proposition of consolidating Windows, AIX, or Linux on a BladeCenter, alongside their IBM i operating system, they won't be priced out of the decision.

This BladeCenter pricing, strategy, and opportunity for System i shops . . . all on its own . . . is big news, and I'll be covering it more in the coming weeks.

Here's another interesting tidbit . . . as part of the effort to mainstream the System i and i5/OS, IBM is shedding the archaic -- or iconic, depending on your level of loyalty -- V6R1 nomenclature. Now, V6R1 will be simply 6.1, and could be referred to as 6.1, i 6.1, or even IBM i 6.1.

Obviously, there's a lot to cover and explore surrounding today's announcements -- look for additional Town Hall coverage and audience reactions tomorrow on Maxed Out, as well as reader comments, which I certainly expect to be lively over the coming weeks -- and which also have the power to ferret out unexpected details, problems, and insights.

For example, I haven't even touched on the benefits this move will bring to business partners and ISVs, not to mention the Vertical Industry Program; nor does it cover IBM's Rational RDi and RDi SOA software development strategies in light of a mainstreamed Power server and i operating system world -- though IBM hasn't announced any changes here.

Then there's PowerVM, which is being well received across the industry and will not only increase complexity for some System i shops, but also provide the power to simplify so much.

Even though this is a radical change, System i shops can mitigate the change by buying i Editions, which will be packaged very similarly to existing System i servers. As for the high-end Power systems with the new consolidated naming scheme, etc., IBM plans to roll those out soon.

"IBM's objective this week is to have you return to your companies at the end of the week from Nashville thinking that this has been the best week for our i clients since the launch of the AS/400 twenty years ago.

"So that's the standard you can measure me against . . . and I know you will. . . . We're looking to deliver the future of the System i, and I hope you like it as much as I do."

So what do you think? I think it's a bit of hyperbole at first glance . . . but the ramifications . . . oh boy oh boy.