In-Depth

July Inside IBM

• 07/01/1999

Inside IBM

IBM plans to create the IBM Design Center for e-transaction processing, a 10,500-square-foot facility, where customers can explore the leading edge of e-commerce and develop new approaches to e-business.

The IBM Design Center for e-transaction processing – located 90 miles north of New York City in Poughkeepsie – will support customers worldwide, staffed by a cadre of IBM Distinguished Engineers, along with network, communications and software architects from IBM’s Research, Software, Server and Global Services organizations.

Test results from independent consultants The Tolly Group show IBM’s high-performance network routing products established a new record – more than 1,000 transactions per second – in a high-demand environment requiring extremely fast responses.

The tests showed that in an e-business environment, where traditional mainframe data and applications are connected to Web-based technologies, IBM’s high-performance routing products processed transactions up to 77 percent faster and are as low as one-third of the cost of similar offerings from Cisco Systems.

Testing was conducted in a TN3270E server environment, supporting 16,000 sessions via Fast Ethernet and both LSA and MPC+/CMPC protocols, with IBM Network Utility and 2216 Multiaccess Connector, significantly outperforming Cisco’s 7507 with CIP2 for PC-to-host network connections. The tests were designed to measure the maximum transactions per second with sub-second response time, when supporting thousands of simultaneous sessions, which is common in the success of many critical e-business applications. Profiles reflected various types of interactive queries, from data entry to large applications. For more information on the how the testing was conducted and the results of the test, visit www.tolly.com.

IBM’s PartnerWorld is a marketing and enablement program designed to create new revenue and market opportunities for IBM’s Business Partners, and to provide customers with e-business solutions, including products, services, technologies and financing.

PartnerWorld establishes a common design for the sales and marketing support, incentives, education and technical support that promote IBM solution sales, including those that address the needs of the $600 billion e-business marketplace.

PartnerWorld will integrate more than 50 different existing programs for Business Partners within IBM. This evolution will make it easier for Business Partners to work with IBM, as many of the existing programs have individual program structures, qualification criteria, terms and conditions and diverse Web site support with different registration processes. The existing IBM Business Partner agreements that authorize companies to sell and influence the sale of IBM products and services remain.

For more information, visit the IBM Business Partners Web site at www.ibm.com/partners.

IBM has expanded the functionality of its Computer Telephony Business Solution by testing and certifying several new add-on applications. In addition, IBM introduced Version 2.55 of its Computer Telephony Business Software, providing improved administration and advanced manageability features. IBM also launched a Computer Telephony program for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).

IBM strengthens its Computer Telephony Business Solution by testing and certifying new add-on applications including:

• Fax services. Allows for an integrated messaging platform complete with an outbound/inbound fax server. The suggested price for this add-on application is $1,395, which includes a license for two fax channels and five clients.

• Voice Message Streaming. Allows users to access voice mail messages through a Web page interface. The suggested price for this Add-on application is $695.

• Alphanumeric Paging. Sends immediate notification of new voice mail to pagers or cell phones with paging capabilities. The suggested price for this add-on application is $695.

• Answer ASAP. Allows the phones to be answered as soon as possible. The suggested retail price for this add-on application is $560.

Available at no charge with the IBM Computer Telephony Business Solution, users benefit from the following standard applications:

• Follow-Me Routing. Allows the user to be reached by important callers even when out of the office.

• EZ Queues. Allows a company to create custom call queues for specific groups, such as sales or support.

For additional information and to locate a reseller, visit www.ibm.com/options, and follow the links to Computer Telephony.

IBM formed the Deep Computing Institute, a $29-million research initiative that will bring together experts in academia and industry to address some of the world’s most challenging business and scientific problems.

"Deep computing" refers to supercomputer-scale processing initiatives that combine massive computation and very sophisticated software algorithms to attack problems previously beyond the reach of information technology. Deep computing techniques include optimization, simulation, visualization, as well as advanced pattern matching and discovery. Along with pervasive computing, IBM considers deep computing to be one of the two primary technology trends driving the next stage of e-business.

Visit the Deep Computing Institute Web site at www.research.ibm.com/dci. The Institute is headquartered at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center in Westchester County, N.Y.