SMEs targeted with System i

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IBM is trying to woo small businesses to its System i platform with the release of a product aimed at companies with between 5 and 40 users.

The company admits it will have to combat the comfort factor with Windows Server in Ireland but claims the System i (formerly known as the AS400) is more reliable, easier to manage and more secure, as well as offering built-in virus resistance, database, storage and systems management technology.

David Sanders, IBM System i brand manager for Ireland, sought to combat perceptions of a declining platform by arguing the System i’s customer base was rock solid and its footprint had increased substantially in 2006 and 2007.

Pricing for the System i Express 515 product would be “near enough comparable with Intel pricing”, he claimed. “You pay a little bit extra but get a more reliable system.”

At the US launch of the System i Express 515, IBM flourished statistics that claimed the typical small business had an average of seven Windows servers deployed on site. It argued companies were having to dedicate personnel and resources to patching and managing multiple Windows servers and pointed to the 120 Secunia issues advisories for Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition in the last four years. 

System i has a built-in workload manager that allows clients to run and manage multiple applications independently on a single system. “You can have logical partitioning on the box and split out workloads,” Sanders said. “You only have one system to interface on, so it’s easier to manage.”

He admitted the System i required a different skill set but argued it was a “very user friendly platform that manages itself”. The cost for the system also included 24 hour remote dial-in customer support.

User testimonials commonly highlight the platform’s stability. One user quoted on the IBM website wrote: “Our Network Admin informed me, ‘I haven’t had to reboot my Windows server for 156 days’. I looked at him and said, ‘I haven’t had to reboot since 1992’.”

Another revealed his company had moved its portal to a System i and replaced six Windows servers with one-quarter of the system.

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