New System z9 Business Class mainframe unveiled

IBM launched last week a new System z9 Business Class mainframe designed to tackle the critical computing challenge of the times – the coming wave of automated service oriented architecture (SOA).

The SOA comes with new, heightened expectations for data security and the rapid expansion of emerging markets.

The new z9 mainframe is an "aggressively positioned system (which) features a new specialty engine and capabilities that will meet the expectations of the SOA and the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that use the new architecture while providing space and infrastructure for these SMEs’ growth."

IBM also announced in a statement that a laboratory in Shanghai will develop software for System z, as well as conduct related testing.

The company also announced that it has enhanced its System z9 Enterprise Class server with features that increase the mainframe system’s business flexibility.

"The IBM System z9 Business Class broadens access to the System z9 platform," it said.

According to IBM, this platform is "the world’s most secure commercially available mainframe computer."

Mike Bliss, IBM System z technical support and marketing director, said that while the new mainframe is expected to cater mostly to financial markets such as banks, it is also expected to "play a growing role in healthcare and retail (businesses) as it is increasingly being used to process sensitive data that are progressively more shared."

Bliss added that he sees more government agencies shifting to IBM’s System z. "This platform gives you scalability and customizability. You can use it for a small business and you can grow with it," he said.

He also said the total cost of ownership of a mainframe is more economical in the long run "especially when you consider (computer) downtime and security breaches that cost you time and money."

Upgrading to a mainframe, particularly System z, according to Bliss, will help businesses, governments and healthcare providers "protect customers’ investments and security, allow for direct interbox (mainframe to mainframe) migration and provide a roadmap for upgrades."

The System z9 Business Class mainframe combines "the power of hundreds of virtual servers with the simplicity of a single physical system," IBM said.

This translates into "substantial customer savings" in terms of hardware and software costs, as well as power consumption because the z9 mainframes "can and do" operate at 80 to 100 percent utilization, "virtualize" workloads, and enable a single mainframe processor to perform more work than a single x86 processor running Microsoft Windows, which may run at a low of five percent utilization. — Alma Anonas-Carpio