Vision Solutions has released a detailed 20-page report, "The State of Resilience and Optimization on IBM Power Systems," regarding disaster recovery expectations, technologies, and the state of systems management.

The report is based on a year-long study that includes survey data from more than 2,000 technical professionals and executives involved with the management of IBM i and AIX environments. Release of the report coincides with the 20th anniversary of the IBM AS/400, the platform that evolved into today's IBM Power Systems.

"When we began compiling survey data, we had a good idea of what the results might reveal about IBM i and AIX customers' business resiliency technologies and systems optimization practices," said Edward Vesely, Vision Solutions' senior vice president of marketing. "What has become the most encouraging information uncovered in our surveys is the tremendous market opportunity still existing with high availability and disaster recovery 20 years later."

According to Vesely, the report explains how a range of business resiliency and optimization technologies are benefiting businesses of all sizes--from the emerging SMB to the multinational enterprise.

Several notable findings that have emerged from the survey include:

• It is imperative that technologies and processes currently in place achieve Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs), even though a large percentage of firms surveyed do not have appropriate technologies in place to achieve their stated goals.
• Data protection and high availability are related but have distinctly different objectives. In general, companies are adopting solutions to address both areas. Keeping data and applications continuously available, however, has not been as consistently addressed as protecting against catastrophic data loss.
• The older focus of disaster recovery (recovering from a fire, flood or other catastrophe) now yields to a broader understanding of protection against all causes of business interruption. Technologies for recovering from and actively avoiding downtime are gaining support.
• Data quality, in terms of its currency, accuracy, and relevance to current business, as well as data access efficiency and productivity, is another top-of-mind issue for executives and operational managers in all areas of the company. As data stores grow, so do labor and downtime costs.

"We are privileged that IBM i users remain so loyal to i and have embraced wholeheartedly the new unified Power Systems platform," said Scott Handy, IBM's vice president of marketing and strategy, IBM Power Systems. "Twenty years after the AS/400 was introduced, Power Systems users continue to reflect the same pragmatic values from two decades ago. Their passion is remarkable and speaks to the entire ecosystem in which Vision Solutions has a vibrant role."

In celebration of the anniversary, Vision Solutions and IBM will host a free "State of Resilience on Power Systems" webcast Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 at 11 a.m. EST. The event will feature IBM's Scott Handy and Vision's Edward Vesely, who will feature news about recent Power Systems technology and market developments, and findings from Vision's exclusive market report. Participants who register for the Dec. 2 webcast also will receive an advanced copy of "The State of Resilience and Optimization on IBM Power Systems." Attendees may register at www.visionsolutions.com/stateofpower.

About Vision Solutions

Vision Solutions, Inc. is the world’s leading provider of information availability software and services for Windows, Linux, IBM Power Systems and Cloud Computing markets. Vision’s trusted MIMIX® and iTERA™ high availability and disaster recovery brands support business continuity, satisfy compliance requirements and increase productivity. Affordable and easy-to-use, Vision products are backed by certified worldwide 24X7 customer support centers and a global partner network that includes IBM (NYSE:IBM), HP (NYSE:HPQ), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), VMware (NYSE:VMW) and Dell (NASDAQ:DELL). Privately held by Thoma Bravo, Vision Solutions is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA with offices worldwide. For more information, visit visionsolutions.com, search for VSIChannel on popular social networks or call 1 800.957.4511 (toll-free U.S. and Canada) or 801.799.0300.