Because the System i can run at redline speed all day long . . .
In recent years, some System i shops bit the dust after being acquired by another company and/or merged with the IT strategies of another business unit that didn't particularly understand the System i and what it delivered. Not only could it be viewed as a foreign operating system, it came on a special box with special nomenclature. The new consolidation of Power hardware, however, removes one potential stumbling block: the unknown.
Sure, in the event of a merger, for example, IBM i might be just as foreign as i5/OS, but at least the hardware won't be. With PowerVM and an increased understanding of virtualization capabilities on the Power lineup, I think there'll be a better opportunity for some of these i workloads to live a longer life -- even in situations where the system is virtually unknown.
If a business process works, if it's easy to maintain, if it resides on a box that is readily understood by the market and with reasonable pricing, I would hope the opportunity for inclusion rather than exclusion is much better than it was before Power and i.
Plus, in a merger situation, there remains a sliver of opportunity -- where i provides better solutions with less hassle than others that sit next to it. IBM i has a chance to gain positive attention in situations where it may have previously been ignored.
Posted by cmaxcer at April 30, 2008 8:24 AM

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