Big Blue hails 'new era' of computing
PureSystems launch will present channel partners with a wave of opportunities, vendor claims
IBM claims to have launched the next 'era of computing' with its PureSystems portfolio.
The vendor is initially taking the wraps off two models – the PureFlex System and the PureApplication System – which feature three major advances IBM believes signify the new era of computing technology.
These are: scale-in system design to cope with increased density; patterns of expertise, which allows the system to automatically handle tasks such as configuration, upgrades and application requirements; and cloud-ready integration, enabling customers to in effect own an 'out of the box' cloud that can scale up and down automatically.
Unveiled at Big Blue’s Southbank headquarters this morning, IBM’s UK and Ireland chief executive, Stephen Leonard (pictured), claimed this was one of the 'most significant announcements from IBM in the last 20 years'.
“If we look back over the last five to 10 years, we have seen a shift in what IT is deployed,” he said. “It is often hard to know where the back office ends and the front office begins.”
Leonard said the advance of digitisation and globalisation have had a significant impact on IT demands, and have opened up new opportunities for customers and partners. “One of the challenges faced by many companies is the huge amount of resource consumed in just keeping the lights on, leaving little to invest in innovation,” he said.
He added that IBM’s latest launch, which is the result of a $2bn investment and four years of work by 37 different R&D labs, will help firms slash costs and eradicate the complexity associated with managing IT, and also buy into a greener solution that uses less energy, but which packs the same punch.
The launch has been well received by channel partners, IBM claimed.
Colin Reid, vice president of channel management for IBM Europe, explained that partners would need to get additional certifications to sell both PureFlex and additional power nodes, but the PureApplication would follow the IBM software group channel model.
Certification will be available in a week’s time and will be a requirement by August, but until then partners have a 90-day window to buy the products and test them, he said.
“We have had high partner participation [in testing stage] already,” Reid explained. “Any type of partner can benefit from this technology, whether they are an ISV, a distributor, VAR or service provider.”
He stressed that IBM would still be offering all its existing products, and that none would be canned to make way for this latest wave of products. He said it opens up additional markets to existing and new types of channel partner.
“We are giving everyone in our channel a leg up into the more lucrative marketplace of business value,” he said.