The growing need for servers that cater for niche environments is effecting a number of changes in the industry, explains Infrastructure Solutions IBM product manager Yushaa Matthews.
"Firstly, IT decision makers are choosing servers less and less for their technical specifications only, but are increasingly having to take into account the specific applications and environments for which the server will be used," he points out. "This means IT departments in large corporations are requiring a higher level of skills to deal with the need for servers that are less generic and more specific for particular applications and environments. As a result, we are seeing more corporates outsourcing parts of their IT activities to companies, such as Datacentrix Infrastructure Solutions, enabling them to focus on their core business activities," explains Matthews.
Secondly, he observes that the growing need for servers that cater for niche environments is also changing the role of server sales personnel. "Sales staff are no longer only required to know the technical specifications of the server, but need to fully understand the hardware, software and networking infrastructure in order to offer a complete solution appropriate for the customer`s unique needs. As a result, the sale and purchase of servers is becoming more consultative," emphasises Matthews.
"Since the sale of servers is becoming less hardware-centric and more concerned with value added capabilities than ever before, it is particularly important that customers opt for IT companies that have accredited and certified personnel, who can provide quality services and advice regarding hardware, in terms of its software applications," he remarks. Of the six direct partners for IBM PSG (Personal Systems Group) in South Africa, Datacentrix Infrastructure Solutions achieved first place for the first and second quarter of 2000, indicating the Datacentrix Infrastructure Solutions has the capabilities to offer a top quality value added service.
Thirdly, the need for application specific servers has also resulted in the launch of server ranges that are better differentiated to cater for niche environments. "This trend is occurring across all server vendors but, in this regard, IBM has been early in the market, with its announcement in October of its new e-server xSeries and Netfinity range of servers," comments Matthews. Better designed to meet specific business needs than ever before, the e-server range has been segmented into three server groups - rack-optimised servers, universal servers and appliance servers - making decision making easier for customers.
Furthermore, each server in the range is best suited for particular applications and environments. For instance, one of the latest IBM rack-optimised servers, the IBM eServer xSeries 340, which was previously the NF 4500R, is particularly suited to front-end Web serving, Web caching, Server farms, Telco applications and Active directory services. While the IBM eServer xSeries 230 (a universal server) includes moderate high-availability features designed for mainstream network server applications, the IBM eServer xSeries 240 (a universal server) is perfect for business-critical applications spanning customer sets from large to small business. The other servers in the range are also designed to cater for specific applications.
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