29
Fri, Nov
0 New Articles

A New Server Group and Perhaps a New Attitude

Analysis of News Events
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

For those of you who were worried that the AS/400 Division was going to lose yet another top executive after another IBM reorganization, don’t worry anymore. In the wake of a massive reorganization, Tom Jarosh is still in charge of the AS/400 marketing organization since earlier in the year, when Sam Palmisano, formerly the head of IBM’s Global Services unit, took over as the head of IBM’s Server Group.

The funny thing is, though, there is no AS/400 Division anymore. There is no Server Group, either. There is just the new and improved Enterprise Systems Group (ESG), which markets S/390, AS/400, and RS/6000 servers and Shark storage arrays and various other storage products. (The Storage Systems Division, formerly under the control of Jim Vanderslice, was merged into the Server Group in December 1999 to create the ESG because Vanderslice split to become second fiddle to Michael Dell at Dell Computer, one of IBM’s staunchest rivals. Linda Sanford, who used to run the S/390 server biz years ago, took over the Storage Systems Division last year.)

In the midst of the PartnerWorld 2000 trade show in late January, Palmisano reconfigured the former Server Group from the inside, this time effectively removing the brand bias that has time and again hindered IBM’s ability to sell to its own customers, much less against its competitors who have much simpler product lines and much simpler marketing stories to tell. While IBM’s marketeers in the ESG organization have rejiggered the facts to fit their new story a bit, the fact remains that the ESG organization is certainly looking to be a far better organization than the Server Group it replaces, in terms of IBM’s effectiveness in selling in the midrange server market and helping customers and Business Partners who sell its products to meet their goals and expectations.

Under the new ESG organization, which will also help position IBM Netfinity and Sequent NUMA-Q Intel-based servers alongside the ESG offerings (Intel-based servers are technically under the Personal Systems Group), IBM has realigned the divisions in ESG to more accurately reflect the needs of the customers who are buying IBM servers. In a letter to ESG employees dated January 25, server czar Palmisano put it succinctly: “The reality is our customers operate in a heterogeneous IT world consisting of numerous operating systems. With the continuing maturation of e-business, there is simply no one-server architecture to meet their increasingly complex computing requirements. We have the multiple architectures to meet those needs, but we’ve failed to take advantage of our industry-leading value proposition. Until now, we’ve made, marketed, and sold by brand.


We’ve forced our server customers to talk to different parts of IBM to get a solution. The competition took advantage of this at our expense. And more importantly, they got momentum. Our job now is to take it back.”

To that end, the ESG now has four parts, including the aforementioned Storage Systems Division. The Enterprise Server Division—headed by Dave Carlucci, former head of the S/390 Division—will handle IBM’s top 1,500 accounts worldwide and will sell a complete, integrated server solution to these customers. The top 1,500, by the way, are roughly ranked by the revenue they bring into IBM, and they use a mix of server technologies. While these accounts will certainly be dominated by S/390 mainframe servers, there are hundreds of big RS/6000 and AS/400 customers in this same class. These customers will also have access to a single point of contact for services and financing. The idea is to simplify the process of buying IBM gear and paying for it.

The Mid-Market Server Division will be headed by former AS/400 General Manager Tom Jarosh. He will be responsible for any enterprise account not in the top 1,500 covered by the Enterprise Server unit. Jarosh won’t just be pushing the AS/400 in this role. It will be his job to make sure IBM sells the right box, whether it runs OS/400, AIX, Monterey/64, or Windows NT. This unit will be focused on selling gear through the Business Partner channel, IBM’s Web site, and its new telesales organization.

Finally, the Web Server Division of the ESG will have its sights firmly locked on Sun Microsystems, and it will be headed up by former RS/6000 Division General Manager Rod Adkins. It will consolidate the sales and marketing efforts of the RS/6000 line and the NUMA-Q line for e-business and Web applications for Net Gen and dot-com companies as well as for the departmental server market, which Sun also plays in. A special Web server sales team under John McAdam, former chief operating officer of Sequent, will promote IBM’s offerings in this area, and McAdam will report directly to Palmisano rather than Adkins, who will just handle boxes.

While I am optimistic that the new ESG will be able to make a better case for AS/400s as IBM sells into the midrange, the distinctions IBM has made between AS/400s, RS/6000s, and NUMA-Qs do not necessarily wash with who buys its machines and how they use them. But given the complexity of the installed IBM server base, its legacy applications, and IBM’s desire to move forward, it would be hard to come up with a different marketing strategy, short of spinning the server lines out and letting them attack each other directly. And IBM is certainly not going to do that. The thing to remember is that the AS/400 is in a better position now than it was last year, when Jarosh controlled only AS/400 marketing.


BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: