Based on your IBM post I thought you might find this article reference IBM mainframes interesting. INTEL and SUN debaters will find it interesting also, looks like we may have to keep an eye on IBM in the future at the high end of the market.
IN IBM'S CORNER: A BRAND-NEW HEAVYWEIGHT
The G4 could reverse Big Blue's mainframe sales slide
businessweek.com
At the end of the article they write:
"
Still, IBM mainframes will face their biggest challenge ever: William H. Gates III has beefed up Windows NT to take on the mission-critical'' jobs for which companies still purchase these big
machines. IBM is fighting back, however, adding 400 new applications that were never available on a mainframe. According to Sanford, half the IBM mainframe computing power sold last year went for new programs. ''It's critical for them to get more applications,'' says Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Daniel Mandresh.
So far, Big Blue still has the edge with corporate computer buyers. ''The current version of NT is not enterprise-ready,'' says Leon B. Billis, chief information officer for the Equitable Life Assurance
Society of the U.S. But there's always the next version. So even though insurance giant Aetna Life & Casualty Co. still finds NT wanting, Chief Technology Officer R. Max Gould is betting that Gates
will fix any shortcomings. ''Where will we be in the year 2005?'' he asks. ''Clearly, Gates has been gaining share all the time.'' And that's one PC-industry truism Gerstner can't choose to ignore.
"
So given MSFT keeps doing what it does best, no one is saying it will not happen, it is just a matter of time. I think maybe five, Ibexx thinks maybe 2-3, the chief technology officer at AETNA thinks about seven.
Regards,
Brian |
