IBM is quick to point out the majority of its iSeries server sales go through partners, such as Sirius, SCS or Solution Technology, and those partners are a satisfied lot. On Aug. 17, the IBM iSeries received the 2004 VARBusiness Annual Report Card award for highest partner satisfaction among midrange servers. The product has traditionally garnered some of the highest loyalty and product scores in the entire ARC survey. However, IBM's iSeries partner base has not grown in recent years, and server-oriented VARs do not necessarily understand many of the recent iSeries innovations, such as its ability to support multiple operating systems, or the benefits of the new Power5 architecture, or its Virtualization Engine technology.
However, those innovations were on display at the U.S. Open, which was the ideal venue for IBM to showcase an on-demand computing environment. As described by Ezra Kucharz, the USTA's managing director, the organization's computing and infrastructure needs are "calm" for nearly 50 weeks a year. However, during the U.S. Open tournament, the operation's IT requirements are "50 times greater than normal," as evidenced by the nearly 15 million visitors to the USTA Web site who view some 100 million Web pages. The organization projects its site attracts some 2.5 million unique Web visitors for what is billed as the world's largest annual sporting event. It attracts 630,000 fans to the Arthur Ashe stadium and surrounding courts and attractions. Building out a Web infrastructure to support such enormous computing needs year round would be cost-prohibitive," Kucharz says, so bringing in computing power on demand fits the organization's needs and budget.
The computing needs of the U.S. Open are being met by an iSeries i5 server running IBM's DB2 database and WebSphere Web server software. Those applications sit on top of Novell's Suse Linux Enterprise Server 9 platform. In addition, the USTA is deploying Tivoli's system management and security software. During a tour of the USTA's facilities, visitors witnessed dozens of networked IBM Thinkpads connected to several Cisco routers.
In addition to the USTA, IBM has sponsorship pacts with the PGA, the Masters golf tournament, the NFL and the acrobatic entertainment troupe Cirque du Soleil, says Rick Singer, who has the enviable job of IBM's vice president of worldwide sponsorship. Such agreements include not only the typical advertising and promotional activities, but technology implementation as well.
Discover the benefits of scalable backbone and network services for application and cloud providers.
Network automation is gaining momentum. Here's how you can drive this powerful technology to its full potential.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
