System iNetwork

"We have seen a lot of activity in the 515 and 525 models. Both models are a great fit for the SMB marketspace. The 525 has effectively replaced the 520 Enterprise Edition in most cases. The 525 CBU is also a very attractive offering for HA/DR.

In my opinion, the switch to concurrent user-based pricing has been well received by the user community. The fact that IBM has removed the 40-user max limit on the 515 models has me somewhat concerned, however. My fear is that some partners may try to shoehorn a customer's environment into that server to try to keep the overall solution price down to a minimum — in competitive situations or because of budget constraints. Even though it is a powerful server from a processor perspective — up to 7,100 CPW — it still is very restrictive from an expandability perspective. It caps out at 16 gigabytes of main memory and doesn't support expansion towers . . . so customers are limited to a maximum of eight disk drives.

That being said, the 515 is still a great box for certain environments. We have found that in many cases it is less expensive for VOIP than the already attractively priced 520 IP Telephony Express Editions. You just need to know where and when it is a good fit."

What about IBM's VIP program? Is Sirius involved directly or tangentially in any way?

"As far as the VIP program goes, I think it is a terrific initiative, but it doesn't really apply to the channel partners. The best way to grow the System i brand is to build and maintain strong relationships with the ISV community. I'm hoping IBM modifies the program in the future to include Business Partners."