OIL & GAS

Customers and ISVs Flocking to IBM Linux on POWER Processor-Based Systems -- At LinuxWorld today, IBM announced new customer adoption and Independent Software Vendor (ISV) support of Linux on POWER processor-based systems. IBM's unique 64-bit POWER architecture systems are helping companies consolidate new Linux and Open Source applications to meet the on-demand computing needs of today through scalable and robust IBM eServer solutions. IBM® eServer pSeries® and iSeries™ systems are available for SUSE and Red Hat Linux operating systems (OS) on IBM's POWER microprocessor-based architecture. The recently introduced IBM eServer BladeCenter™ JS20 is also based on the POWER architecture, is enabled for SUSE Linux and gives IBM customers a POWER processor-based, low-cost, high-performance computing solution in a BladeCenter environment. A variety of businesses and organizations, from small non-profits to medium and large enterprises, are leveraging IBM Linux on POWER technology as a key differentiator in their infrastructure. IBM customers such as National Semiconductor, Kendall-Jackson wineries, Intermountain Health Care, manufacturing company LexCom, The University at Albany - State University of New York, the Black Hills Corporation and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies are utilizing Linux on pSeries and iSeries systems to reduce costs, consolidate workloads and integrate their on demand operating environments. In response to high customer demand, IBM is also expanding its Linux server offerings, including more than 300 Linux OS-ready ISV software applications now available to run on the IBM eServer pSeries and iSeries platforms. By porting Linux applications to the POWER platform, ISVs gain availability to two customer sets, and customers of both iSeries and pSeries systems have greater options available to them. "IBM is committed to providing customers the greatest choice of standards-based technologies, providing them with alternative solutions to free them from proprietary technologies," said Brian Connors, Vice President, Linux on POWER, IBM. "Businesses are increasingly turning to our pSeries, iSeries and BladeCenter platforms to take advantage of the performance of the POWER architecture and the flexibility that Linux is known for, helping them realize performance gains and efficiencies." Across the entire IBM eServer pSeries and iSeries platforms -- from entry-level, mid-range to high-end -- IBM offers customers the flexibility to run Linux natively or in a logical partition with the AIX 5L™ OS for pSeries, and in a partition with the OS/400® OS for iSeries, with IBM's POWER microprocessor as a foundation for each system. IBM's eServer BladeCenter JS20 -- also based on POWER technology, gives customers a low-cost solution that complements the offerings of the pSeries and iSeries platforms and enables a wide range of solutions that lets customers both scale-up and scale-out through a single, proven 64-bit architecture. IBM's innovative POWER technology is meeting the high-performance needs corporate computing demands with a clear, proven roadmap in 64-bit computing that has continually built upon the history of IBM's chip technology. Having been termed the first 'server on a chip,' IBM continues to invest in the POWER architecture to offer customers open, innovative technology solutions that complement the flexibility of Linux and capitalize on the growing demand for 64-bit applications. IBM's family of POWER and PowerPC® microprocessors are among the most widely used in the industry and in addition to being featured in IBM's pSeries, iSeries and BladeCenter servers, can be found in Nintendo game consoles, Apple computers, and some of the world's most powerful supercomputers and storage systems. POWER Customers Embrace Linux National Semiconductor, a premier analog company offering customers analog-based semiconductor products, seeks to consolidate more than 15 older UNIX® machines to just two IBM eServer p690 systems, to reduce costs and simplify their infrastructure. The servers are running mission critical applications including Tivoli® Storage Manager, Cognos, Oracle, i2 and Tomcat utilizing both the AIX 5L and RedHat Linux operating systems in logical partitions for both live, QA and test applications. Simplicity, fault tolerance and cost reduction were the key drivers. "Our information technology infrastructure is critical for our business operations, so we must rely on systems that not only can grow with us as we need additional computing power, but also provide us the flexibility and choice to run a mix of UNIX and Linux systems where we need it," said Ulrich Seif, Senior Vice President and CIO, National Semiconductor. "Since IBM is enabling its POWER systems for Linux, our technology systems are poised to grow as our Linux applications grow with us." Kendall-Jackson, one of America's top premium wineries, recently upgraded to the newest IBM eServer iSeries servers to power its custom vineyard production and wine distribution applications that manage all aspects of wine production from the time grapes enter a cellar to costing to leaving as a bottle of wine. Kendall-Jackson recently added a SUSE Linux application to aid in the monitoring of IT services to help ensure availability of computing resources. "The availability of Linux on POWER has enabled us to deploy the most robust application for monitoring our resources and leverage our investment in the iSeries platform," said Mike Shaw, iSeries Operations Manager, Jackson Enterprises. Intermountain Health Care, a nonprofit healthcare system serving Utah and Idaho residents, is moving from an infrastructure of disparate UNIX® servers from various vendors to the IBM eServer pSeries platform, supported by various IBM TotalStorage® Enterprise Storage Servers™ as part of a server consolidation program. Intermountain Health Care is moving many of the key healthcare and ERP applications onto an IBM eServer p690 to take advantage of the logical partitioning running in AIX 5L in production and SUSE Linux in a test environment with Oracle as the supporting database. "We have been very happy with the growth and support of IBM's AIX 5L platform on our pSeries systems, but are also aware of the huge growth that the Linux market is undertaking," said Frederick Holston, Director of IT Architecture, IHC. "There has been tremendous growth in the number of applications that can run on Linux now, and by IBM offering Linux on the POWER platform, this could give us the best of both worlds -- the rock-solid reliability of the pSeries platform with the flexibility to run AIX 5L or Linux, based on our application needs." LexCom, a parts catalog and technical document company is currently using pSeries systems running SUSE Linux with DB2® Information Management as the foundation for its online Web catalogs for key clients among which are some of Germany's most popular car manufacturers. "Having been very familiar with Linux, we were looking for a platform that complemented the strengths of the Linux environment with such key features as reliability and scalability, and that is exactly what the IBM eServer pSeries platform gave us," said Dr. Bernd Kuennen, System Designer, LexCom. "Using the architecture of the POWER family as the supporting base for our mission critical applications gives us a solid platform that help us forget about our technology and focus on our business -- and that's a dream come true for any IT manager." The University at Albany - State University of New York has made a commitment to further its life sciences and chemistry programs for students and faculty by adding Linux on POWER to its infrastructure. This year, the University will expand those programs through HPC capabilities and will leverage the power and reliability of IBM eServer p655 system running SUSE Linux. "IBM systems offer the full spectrum of computing capacities, services and support that we are looking for in order to advance our IT infrastructure to support high performance computing initiatives," said Christine Haile, Chief Information Officer at Ualbany. "By combining the muscle of the POWER architecture with the strength of the Linux environment, we are going to be gaining a solution that best fits our need to perform complex calculations and manage the vast amount of computation involved in supporting research in the sciences and other disciplines." The Black Hills Corporation (BHC) produces and markets oil, natural gas and coal and provides electrical and broadband services to much of South Dakota. BHC needed to enhance its security system to track and verify the real-time movements of employees and visitors. BHC and Daksoft, its wholly owned IT subsidiary, chose a network-based video monitoring system built on the iSeries platform and Motion, an Open Source, Linux OS-based digital media solution to store critical security footage in a highly manageable Linux partition. "Because of its reliability and scalability, the iSeries is a core part of our business and we like to work with the platform as much as possible," said Jeremy Frie, Network Systems manager for Daksoft. "We were also interested in leveraging our existing Linux skills base and the combination of Linux and POWER provided our company substantial cost savings and more efficient IT resource usage -- a clear competitive advantage in our high-profile business industry. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) was founded in 2003 and was formed as a result of the strategic combination of IBM and Hitachi's storage technology businesses. As part of an internal upgrade to replace older IBM UNIX systems, working with IBM global financing, HGST will implement a new IBM eServer p670 running both AIX 5L and Linux in a partition as a way to maximize application ability across the platform. "As we grow our business and integrate our application base, we need to be able to run global applications -- some of which might run best on Linux," said David Reisenauer, Director of Global IT Operations, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "We look forward to implementing Linux on our POWER platform to give us a flexible, reliable and cost-effective manner of hosting applications in both an AIX 5L and Linux environment." SAP Embraces Linux SAP AG is one of the world's leading providers of business software solutions, and through mySAP™ Business Suite, has been delivering Linux-based solutions since 1999 through the efforts of the SAP Linux Lab. IBM, which is a founding member of the SAP Linux Lab, has a long-standing relationship with SAP AG. Supported by SAP's 28 industry-specific solution portfolios, more than 21,600 customers in over 120 countries run more than 69,700 installations of SAP® software. "SAP considers Linux as a strategic platform to be considered equally with other operating systems," said Frank Witte, product manager of Open Source Strategy, SAP AG. "Open standards are key to the solution integration and openness demanded by SAP's customers. SAP welcomes 64-bit technology by IBM and our other partners as Linux opens the door for highly scalable enterprise applications." IBM Software Supported on Linux on POWER IBM delivers the broadest portfolio of software offerings for Linux running on the POWER architecture, spanning its WebSphere®, DB2 Information Management and Tivoli security and systems management offerings. This wide level of support, gives medium size and large enterprise customers the capability to build, deploy and manage critical business and technical applications using Linux on POWER, which combine performance and flexibility into a cost-effective platform. With WebSphere Internet infrastructure software supporting the advanced POWER4™ microprocessor, companies can improve IT performance and leverage existing Java™ applications running on top of WebSphere Application Server, which already supports the POWER architecture running Linux. DB2 Universal Database™ also already supports Linux on POWER, and in 2004 IBM Business Partners and customers will be able to download and preview code that can help very large database applications running on DB2 Universal Database take advantage of the 64-bit performance of the POWER processors at the heart of IBM pSeries and iSeries servers. Support for POWER also extends to a wide range of Tivoli offerings, including systems management, security, automation, monitoring and storage management, which are critical elements for larger enterprise environments. Support for Linux on POWER Further Achieved Through ISVs Along with delivering IBM software solutions and various application support, IBM eServer pSeries and iSeries brand organizations have been working with hundreds of ISVs to help deliver Linux OS-ready pSeries, and iSeries solutions to customers. Working with ISVs like Genaware, Selectica, TECSYS, and LANSA, IBM is helping software and solution providers target and drive Linux solution revenue. IBM is also expanding standards-related services to ISVs at its Linux Test Drive and Solution Partnership Centers (SPCs) worldwide. The Test Drive will provide access to a set of Linux Standard Base certified enterprise Linux distributions on IBM eServer systems for ISVs in the form of a pilot program to help them achieve LSB certifications. The GenaWare Group, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, develops and markets spatial computing applications for telecommunications, local and central government, emergency services, and the military for use in everything from event simulation to land planning. "Demand for our software applications has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year and having the applications run on the IBM POWER platform has been of significant value to many of our customers," said Jon Polay, Vice President of Sales, Genaware. "Our solution tightly integrates IBM eServer pSeries and middleware software technologies and now by having our applications compatible with Linux on the pSeries platform, our solutions will be even more available to more customers through flexible, open Linux on POWER platforms." Selectica, Inc. based in San Jose, California, enables enterprises to reduce costs and enhance revenue from complex product and services offerings. Selectica solutions unify customers' business processes to correctly configure, price, and quote offerings across multiple distribution channels. As a result, Selectica can help improve profitability by helping to increase revenue, reduce process costs, optimize pricing, eliminate incorrect quotes and orders, and avoid high-risk business. "Selectica sells business critical applications to customers that sell complex products and services. We find Linux running on the POWER platform as a very reliable and cost-effective infrastructure for us as well as for our customers," said Kamal Ahluwalia, Vice President of Business Development, Selectica. "The flexibility and ease of maintenance offered by the IBM pSeries architecture makes it easy to support multiple application environments and prioritize resource allocation." TECSYS is a leading supply chain management software company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that provides enterprise distribution software solutions. TECSYS' customers include about 300 mid-size and Fortune 1000 corporations in healthcare (pharmaceutical and medical/surgical supplies) distribution, third-party logistics providers (3PL), and general wholesale high-volume distribution markets. "Linux is here today and is making a great impact in the market by giving our customers, a low-cost, scalable platform to do business with," said Robert Colosino, Vice President of Alliances and Technology Strategy at TECSYS. "We offer software solutions that are focused on delivering enterprise wide efficiencies, cost management, and inventory management. Such solutions when married with the scalability of Linux and the power of IBM's hardware technology are a win-win for any of our customers." LANSA, based in Downers Grove, Illinois, provides offerings in the areas of application development, e-business solutions, technology integration and data access. Adding to its long-time support of the IBM eServer iSeries platform, the company is announcing that its Commerce Edition and UCCnet Direct solution are now available for the AIX 5L and Linux operating systems. The availability of new platforms for UCCnet Direct will allow any retail supplier utilizing Linux or AIX 5L to fulfill UCCnet compliancy requirements by being able to access and update Item information stored in their existing ERP systems and securely send it to UCCnet's GLOBALregistry™. Al Grega, director of business development for LANSA, said, "Over the last 18 months, LANSA has added AIX 5L and Linux operating system support to all our key development and integration products. This added support has enabled us to now offer our On-Demand solutions, such as UCCnet Direct, to any of the 60,000 suppliers actively seeking Linux or AIX 5L solutions for UCCnet compliance on IBM's POWER processor-based servers."