Processors, memory and storage cannot be seen in isolation any longer - what matters is how the system works as a whole, and critically, how it best supports time to market on enterprise innovations, says IBM.
Bevan Lock, System x Consultant at IBM South Africa, says: "Traditionally, enterprise growth was a given, and IT infrastructure was approached in a fairly siloed way. But economic uncertainty, exponential changes in technology and an increasingly globalised market environment means that enterprises have to revisit their approach to IT infrastructure. Now, IT cannot be viewed in a compartmentalised way - what is important is how the system operates as a whole. To maximise return on investment and support the enterprise's need to constantly innovate, end-to-end performance becomes key to success," he says.
Enterprises dependent on databases, ERP, big data analytics and virtualisation for their future success need to look to new ways of integrating and managing their IT systems, for greater cost efficiencies, optimised performance, agility and faster time to market on innovations, he notes. "And with data becoming so critical to business success, time to value on data is the next competitive advantage." He points out that it is no longer enough to have vast storage capacity and processing power - the key to success is the ability to maximise the performance of these systems to get results faster and be first to market with innovation.
Maurice Blackwood, IBM Systems and Technology Group Director for South Africa, adds there is a growing demand among South African enterprises for solutions that allow them to cost-effectively, securely and efficiently run their systems while also positioning themselves to take advantage of new technologies.
Lock says while compartmentalised systems are not the answer, modular and integrated systems are. "IBM's new X6 portfolio of servers is unique in its approach to meeting new enterprise demands," he says. Addressing the performance question, the X6 servers feature IBM eXFlash memory-channel storage, delivering up to three times lower latency than PCI-E based flash storage for significantly faster database performance. This performance gain supports consolidation to help reduce licensing and storage costs, notes IBM. In addition, X6 servers support long-term flexibility with a modular design that supports the ability to upgrade processor and memory technology to the next generation, as workload demands change. These capabilities can reduce acquisition costs by up to 28%.
"As enterprises seek faster, more agile and more resilient systems, we believe the solution lies in a modular architecture designed to deliver improved performance and reduced complexity and cost," says Lock. "The X6 modules, or 'books', allow for the replacement of 'books' for upgrades, simplified management and higher levels of availability."
Share
