In-Depth

Inside IBM

• 01/01/1999

IBM has acquired a worldwide corporate license to use ClickNet Y2K for desktop Year 2000 readiness. IBM selected ClickNet Y2K as part of its internal Year 2000 readiness assessment after a rigorous, multi-site pilot evaluation. This selection process involved multiple sites and dozens of IBM engineers testing thousands of PCs throughout the company. With ClickNet Y2K, the typical audit and assessment time was reduced from more than an hour to an average of 5 to 10 minutes per PC.

ClickNet Y2K is an integrated Year 2000 readiness tool that simplifies the task of assessing and managing desktop compliance. The application features automated network inventory, hardware and software compliance assessment, progress monitoring, comprehensive compliance reporting and detailed recommendations for corrective action. The ClickNet Y2K-compliance knowledge base currently tracks over 10,000 application titles, and is updated and accessible online 24 hours per day.

IBM announced the shipment of its 1,000th S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server -- Generation 5, currently the industry's most powerful mainframe server with a capacity of 1,069 MIPS. In less than 100 days, IBM has shipped 1,000 of the large servers, the fastest and most successful first shipment of any S/390 server.

The first 1,000 S/390 G5 Server customers include major airlines, manufacturers, retailers, finance, banking and insurance companies, energy companies, telecommunications and travel service providers. The S/390 G5 Server in a Parallel Sysplex cluster can deliver 99.999 percent availability. The 1,000th S/390 G5 Server -- a 10-way Turbo model, IBM's most powerful -- will be installed at one of DaimlerChrysler AG's Detroit data centers where it will be running a production workload. This will be the third S/390 G5 installed at DaimlerChrysler.

IBM announced a new record for Lotus Domino scalability on a single server. The new mark of more than 27,000 active mail users on an AS/400e server shatters the previous record set by AS/400 just 10 months ago. In independent tests, the IBM AS/400e model s40 -- running Lotus Domino 4.6 server software in native 64-bit mode - handled 27,030 concurrent mail users while using less than 80 percent of the computer's capacity. IBM also offers a highly scalable solution for businesses that start small, but are growing fast. IBM's premier AS/400 entry server - the e-series model 170 -- can handle more than 1,300 active mail users on a single server.

E-Club is a special feature of the World Chambers Network (WCN), an Internet service built on the World Chambers of Commerce movement. WCN already offers an extensive business opportunities database, the Global Business eXchange, the Internet's most complete registry of Chambers of Commerce and a trade resource library.

The consortium running WCN consists of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Trade Information Network of the UN/G77 Conference of Chambers of Commerce, the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the International Business Network for World Commerce and Industry Ltd. (IBNET). The e-Club application and Global Business eXchange were developed and will be supported by IBM Global Services over the IBM Global Network.

Details of any product or service offered by an e-Club member are instantly e-mailed to other members with matching needs. Members can be buyers and sellers at the same time. WCN provides a digital electronic certificate to each member, while IBM employs the latest encryption and other security technology to help keep vital business information secure and confidential.

The AS/400 is marking its tenth anniversary by posting its best performance numbers ever. During IBM's Q3/98, the AS/400 again posted solid double-digit revenue gains making it four strong quarters in a row.

According to Jarosh, general manager of AS/400 Brand, the number of AS/400 shipments during 1998 could reach beyond 75,000. The last time the product line did this well was in 1995, with the 64-bit RISC announcement when IBM shipped an estimated 70,000 AS/400s -- net new and upgrades -- from its factory in Rochester, Minn.

Using IDC's 1997 estimates for IBM's AS/400 server revenue as a guide, a $5-billion year for the e-Series is a real possibility. This $5 billion is only in AS/400 hardware sales and does not take into account peripherals, software, services and support revenues generated as the result of those sales.

IBM announced that, for the first time, it will offer an integrated software suite for Windows NT targeted toward small and medium-sized businesses. The IBM Small Business Suite for Windows NT brings together tools for implementing Internet and intranet-based applications including e-mail; calendaring and scheduling capabilities; a powerful relational database for managing information fax and modem pooling services; and application templates for office directories, online discussions, document management and other business management tasks.

The suite server is priced under $500, and each organization can license up to 100 registered users. The suite client includes Lotus Notes Desktop, DB2 Universal Database, and Netscape Navigator, and is available for less than $100.

The integration of IBM DB2 Universal Database and Lotus Domino messaging and application server into this suite provides a secure technology base for building applications for small and growing businesses.

The new IBM suite provides an installation technology that allows solution providers to configure complete networks of clients and servers -- including Domino-based applications from third-party vendors. Using the Integrated Installation Pack, a small business can be operational -- with e-mail, messaging and collaboration, and fax capabilities -- often in less than an hour. This quick-installation tool maintains client/server profiles, saving software vendors time and effort with subsequent installations. The IBM Small Business Suite also integrates FAXport and WINport technologies from LANSource Technologies, Inc.