I'm looking for actual data, quotes, articles, or links to purchasable
data sources to anwer the following questions about IBM iSeries
servers.  I understand that these are very specific questions, so my
expectations are low.

-What are different estimates of the total installed base size of
these iSeries (formerly called AS400) servers?

-What is the average replacement cycle for these servers (how long
before they are retired or upgraded?) How does this vary (if at all)
by model or by model type (low, mid, high range)?

-What is the average number of partitions that these iSeries servers
have?  How does this vary (if at all) by model or by model type (low,
mid, high range)?

-What is the average number of partitions that is running the OS/400
operating system? How does this vary (if at all) by model or by model
type (low, mid, high range)?

-What are good websites, research houses, experts, etc. that have good
knowledge on iSeries data?

I'm on a tight timeframe, so please post answers in small groups as
they come in.  Again, I understand this is a tough ask, so any
information is highly valuable.

Thanks,
Brian

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 19 Aug 2004 09:56 PDT

Hello again Belliot,

Please take a look at my findings in the comment box below regarding
the IBM iSeries server market size questions you inquired about.

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Clarification of Question by belliot-ga on 19 Aug 2004 10:31 PDT

Bobbie7-

If possible, could you please push a little further in a few area:

-replacement cycle (how long to people use different types of iSeries
machines before they need to upgrade or replace them? how does this
vary by model type and how does it compare to other types of similar
servers?)

-partitions: I understand that iSeries servers can host a number of
partitions, but how many partitions (on average) are people actually
using? What OS are they running on those partitions?  What percent of
those partitions are running OS/400 (that's the operating system
designed to work on the iSeries).

-Any other experts (aside from IDC and Gartner... I've already spoken
to analysts there) that track this stuff (like the quote from John
Jones...)

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 19 Aug 2004 10:42 PDT

Dear Brian,

As you said, these are very specific questions; however I will
continue my search and I'll see what additional information I can dig
up.

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 19 Aug 2004 11:41 PDT

I posted additional information in the comment section below.

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Clarification of Question by belliot-ga on 19 Aug 2004 13:18 PDT

Bobbee7,
Thanks for the additional research.  If you feel that the information
isn't out there, then I'd be happy to pay the $90. It's your call, so
feel free to close the case if you think there aren't more big stones
to turn.
I appreciate your help!
Brian

---

Clarification of Question by belliot-ga on 19 Aug 2004 13:20 PDT

Bobbee7-
Actually, if you have a little more time, a few more estimates on the
size of the current installed base would be helpful, especially if
there isn't much out there on product life cycle.
Other than that, I think it's good to close.
Thanks,
Brian

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 19 Aug 2004 13:27 PDT

Dear Brian,

I'll search for additional information regarding the current installed
base  before I post an official answer.

Regards,
Bobbie

---

Clarification of Question by belliot-ga on 19 Aug 2004 13:35 PDT

Bobbee7,
Thanks for all of your help. Case closed!
Brian

Dear Brian,

Here are my additional findings.

According to Warren Bernstein: ?If you look at the iSeries from IBM?s
perspective, the iSeries makes up over 70 per cent of IBM?s eServer
installed base. When you look at its customer base, it?s increasing,
not shrinking,? he says.?

iSeries Network
http://www.iseriesnetwork.com/nodeuk/ukarchive/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewarticle&CO_ContentID=17554


---------------------------------------------------------


?With 400,000 machines in use by around a quarter of a million
customers, iSeries has by far IBM's largest platform customer base.?

?The proprietary mid-range iSeries machines have a declining revenue,
but a very loyal user base.?

(..) 

?IBM does not quote revenues from its servers separately, but analysts
estimate that xSeries is growing fast, pSeries is growing slightly,
zSeries is declining slightly, and iSeries is declining faster.
ISeries probably declined by 11 percent in the last quarter of 2002,
according to analyst John Jones, of SoundView Technology Group, quoted
in iSeries Network. He reckons that zSeries dropped 2 percent, pSeries
grew 2 percent and xSeries grew 16 percent, adding most to IBM's
overall hardware profit growth of 1 percent in the quarter.?

(..) 

?iSeries has a large installed base, who claim to get very low
cost-of-ownership. IBM had to choose whether to allow this base to
dwindle gradually and move them onto other platforms, as other
suppliers like HP have done with their proprietary mid-range systems,
or to re-energise the iSeries itself and attempt to grow its user
base.?

ZDNet UK: January 20, 2003
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/print/?TYPE=story&AT=2128939-39020445t-20000012c


---------------------------------------------------------

?With 400,000 machines in use by around a quarter of a million
customers, iSeries has by far IBM's largest platform customer base.?

ZDNet Australia
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,20271421-3,00.htm

---------------------------------------------------------


According to Tom Bittman in an article published in October 2003:

"... Bittman says that iSeries revenue peaked in 1998 at about $4.1
billion. At that time, he says, the iSeries was moving along with the
rest of the market. But in 1999, the iSeries started its sharp
decline, plunging to $2.4 billion in 2001 and $2.3 billion in 2002, by
Gartner?s estimates. ?Today,? he says, ?the revenue is about half of
its previous number.? Actual shipments, he estimates, peaked in 1999
at approximately 90,000 units, and since have nosedived to fewer than
30,000 in 2002.

Bittman calls the double-digit new-growth projections put forth by
iSeries GM Al Zollar and marketing v.p. Cecelia Marrese ?a game of
math.? He quips, ?The ?growth? they are looking at is not outstanding
when you?ve lost over 50 percent of your base.?

?For another thing, Bittman expects any further growth in the platform
to come from the high end, especially in large accounts that already
have iSeries systems and are adding on to existing configurations.
?Although IBM has not stopped trying to sell the zSeries or iSeries to
new customers,? he says, ?the bulk of investments in those
architectures is aimed at increasing the use of those servers within
its large and valuable installed base through consolidation and new
applications.?

iSeries Network
http://www.iseriesnetwork.com/news/nwn/story.cfm?ID=17433&channel=news


---------------------------------------------------------


?Bittman compares IBM's newest iSeries marketing effort to that of the
Apple Computer and its marketing of the Macintosh. "They don't convert
new people, they solidify the installed base," he said.

With more than 90% of iSeries income coming from its installed base,
Bittman said trying to lure Windows users away from that platform and
save the iSeries shouldn't be the objective. Sure, IBM will get the
user who is unhappy with NT or security, but for the most part, IBM
should be thinking more about increasing the loyalty of the installed
base. By marketing to the installed base and leveraging that loyalty,
IBM will get those businesses to stay with the iSeries, upgrade or buy
more computers. What this marketing campaign will do, said Bittman, is
make the iSeries more visible to the IT managers and CIOs.?
http://search400.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid3_gci955122,00.html


---------------------------------------------------------



"... the Fast400 Group is confident there will be over one million
iSeries servers in the not too distant future."

iSeries Network
http://www.iseriesnetwork.com/nodeuk/ukarchive/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewarticle&CO_ContentID=15940


---------------------------------------------------------


?SSB reckons that IBM sold $625 million in iSeries and AS/400 servers
and upgrades in the fourth quarter, down 16 percent from last year,
when IBM sold, according to SSB, $745 million in iSeries and AS/400
equipment.?

Midrange Server 
http://www.midrangeserver.com/mid/mid022702-story08.html

Graph
http://www.midrangeserver.com/mid/mid022702-story8-fig1.gif


---------------------------------------------------------


I am reposting all my previous research into the answer box to make
this answer official.



Server Market Share Size Definitely Matters for IBM and HP 
OS/400 Edition
Volume 12, Number 24 -- June 16, 2003

?So how does the iSeries fit into all of this? It is hard to say. In
the 1990s, when the iSeries hardware business was roughly twice as
large as it is now and the server market was considerably smaller, IDC
and Gartner liked to talk about the OS/400 platform a lot more than
they currently do. IBM doesn't help matters any, either. It is always
talking about iSeries sales in terms of the growth in sales quarter to
quarter in constant currency (meaning in each geographic location in
its own currency rather than sales in aggregate as booked by its U.S.
parent corporation in dollars). It never gives the actual sales
figures.?

?What IBM said in its first quarter financial results is that it sold
$2.6 billion in servers and storage. By the way, when you take storage
out, the number that IBM booked is actually a lot less than IBM says.
Yes, this is puzzling, but Gartner is counting sales of base machines
with base hardware and operating systems, which IBM is just
(apparently) talking about server and storage sales.?

?In any event, IBM said that iSeries sales were up 14 percent at
constant currency and up 22 percent as reported (on of the few times
it gave out the growth rate as reported, and probably only because the
weakness of the dollar made the as-reported growth rates look better).
Analysts at Merrill Lynch estimate that Big Blue booked $316 million
in iSeries server sales in the first quarter, up 22 percent from the
$260 million worth of iSeries gear IBM pushed in the first quarter of
2002, one of the worst quarters ever for the box. That gave the
iSeries about 3 percent of the overall server market, using IDC's and
Gartner's numbers for Q1. Considering the fact that IBM revamped the
product line on January 20, the fact that IBM was able to grow sales
at all is a feat worthy of praise, especially considering the price
cuts it implemented as part of the iSeries revamping. It's hard to say
if the second quarter, which ends in two weeks, will be better.
Merrill Lynch thinks IBM will see 10 percent growth for the iSeries
during the quarter, pushing sales up to around $440 million. We'll
know sometime in mid-July exactly how the quarter went for the
iSeries.?

Midrange Server, Inc
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh061603-story01.html


-----------------------------------------------------


?Indeed, from 2002 to 2003, iSeries was largely flat in the market,
according to research firm IDC. IBM's sales decreased from $2.3
billion to $2.2 billion, while shipments dropped from about 25,000 to
about 23,000.

In comparison, the server market overall grew 3.2 percent from $44.3
billion to $45.7 billion, IDC said.?

TechRepublic 
IBM overhauls iSeries for the long haul
August 9, 2004  
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5302091.html


-----------------------------------------------------


?Today there are more than 400,000 iSeries and AS/400 servers in use
by more than 245,000 IBM customers in at least 100 countries. The
largest concentration of iSeries and AS/400 customers is in Italy.
According to IBM, customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
bought 46 percent of all iSeries and AS/400 machines sold.

Since IBM first released them on iSeries in 1999, logical partitions
(LPARs) have become a key facilitator for application and hardware
consolidation. IBM followed its first LPAR announcement with the
introduction of Linux LPARs as an additional consolidation tool in
2001. A Linux LPAR can reduce the maintenance of multiple hardware and
software platforms by enabling users to consolidate low-end Linux- and
Windows-powered Intel servers. Up to 31 separate Linux environments
can be supported on one iSeries server.?

News Forge: March 23, 2004
http://business.newsforge.com/business/04/03/18/1919249.shtml

-----------------------------------------------------



Partition information at the following links:

?According to sources familiar with IBM's development plans for the
OS/400 operating system, Big Blue plans to significantly expand the
number of logical partitions that an iSeries server can support. IBM's
plans reportedly call for the support of up to 255 logical partitions
on a single machine, which is considerably larger number than the 32
partitions that are supported on today's top-end, 24-way iSeries Model
840 server. Presumably, these partitions will be available to support
OS/400 and Linux--and even AIX some day soon.?
Read the full text of this article here:
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh040802-story02.html


-----------------------------------------------------


Scroll down to the bottom of the page at the following link to see a
table regarding iSeries processors partition information.
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/linux/enhance.html


-----------------------------------------------------
 

?Q: You also mentioned an increase in the number of partitions. How
many partitions are we talking about here?

A: Today we have 32 partitions on an iSeries server. We?re working on
increasing that number to more than 200 partitions. We?ll continue to
support up to 10 partitions per processor, but we?re working on
expanding the total number, so, for example, on a 4-way, 40 LPARs will
be possible and on an 8-way, 80 LPARs.?
http://eservercomputing.com/iseries/articles/index.asp?id=888


-----------------------------------------------------

IBM Server Snapshot
http://www.serverwatch.com/hreviews/article.php/3091581

-----------------------------------------------------


AS/400 Consultant Reports: DH Brown Associates, Inc.
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/conslt/dhb.htm


-----------------------------------------------------


iSeries:  Small to Medium Enterprises: 

iSeries 800
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/smallmed/800/index.html

iSeries 810;
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/smallmed/810/index.html

iSeries:  Medium to Large Enterprises:

iSeries 825
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/medlarge/825/index.html

iSeries 870
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/medlarge/870/index.html

iSeries 890
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/medlarge/890/index.html


IBM Delivers Model 810 iSeries for HA Server
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh030104-story01.html


-----------------------------------------------------


Here are a number excellent fee based market reports.

IBM iSeries and AS/400 Life Cycle Report, March/April 2004
Product Type: Market Report 
Published Date: April 2004 
Published By: IDC 
Page Count: 25 

?This IDC study provides residual value forecasts and current fair
market value data for IBM's iSeries and AS/400 systems. The study
explains the current market conditions that are affecting the value of
used hardware on the secondary market and the future technological
changes that will further affect these values. We explore the factors
that have an impact on the server market and the price/performance
increases expected over the next several years. This information helps
those who invest in iSeries hardware assess their risk and provides
guidance on the amount of residual value that is expected to be
realized at the end of the lease term.

"The introduction of the Power5 in the iSeries lineup will have a
significant impact on residual values between now and January 2005. If
IBM's pricing strategy with its pSeries line is any indication, the
new models will offer approximately 50% better performance at the same
price point as current systems. Depending on when customers adopt the
latest technology, more supply of 800, 810, and 825 equipment will
enter the secondary market, driving down pricing," said Jennifer
Koppy, senior research analyst with IDC's Leasing Evaluation Service.
http://www.mindbranch.com/page/catalog/product/2e6a73703f636f64653d523130342d313531313926706172746e65723d30.html

Table of Contents
http://www.mindbranch.com/catalog/product.jsp?display=toc&code=R104-15119&bundle=&partner=0


-----------------------------------------------------


IBM iSeries and AS/400 Life Cycle Report, January/February 2003
 
 
Product Type: Market Report 
Published Date: February 2003 
Published By: IDC 
Page Count: 29 

?This IDC study provides residual value forecasts and current fair
market value data for IBM iSeries and AS/400 workstations and servers.
The study explains the current market conditions that are affecting
the value of used hardware on the secondary market and what future
technological changes will further impact these values. We explore the
vendor's current position in the market, its current product lineup,
and the price/performance increases expected over the next several
years. This information helps those who invest in hardware assess
their risk and provides guidance on the amount of residual value that
is expected to be realized at the end of lease term.

"The iSeries has system characteristics and an installed base that is
quite different from that of the pSeries, Sun's Sun Fire and
Enterprise lines, and HP's 9000 line. These differences carry through
to the secondary market, and understanding the systems and the
customer base are essential in determining future value for iSeries
hardware." - Jennifer Koppy, senior research analyst, Leasing
Evaluation Service?
http://www.mindbranch.com/catalog/product.jsp?code=R104-11839&psrc=gsitemap


--------------------------------------------------------------

IBM AS/400 and iSeries Life Cycle Report, March/April 2002
http://www.mindbranch.com/page/catalog/product/2e6a73703f636f64653d523130342d3933303626706172746e65723d30.html

--------------------------------------------------------------


Another article:

?ISeries probably declined by 11 percent in the last quarter of 2002,
according to analyst John Jones, of SoundView Technology Group, quoted
in iSeries Network. He reckons that zSeries dropped 2 percent, pSeries
grew 2 percent and xSeries grew 16 percent, adding most to IBM's
overall hardware profit growth of 1 percent in the quarter.?
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,20271421,00.htm


-----------------------------------------------------

?Over 300,000 clients run their businesses on an iSeries or
AS/400

More than 750,000 iSeries and AS/400 servers have been
shipped to clients in over 100 countries around the world

99% of the 2002 Fortune companies have utilized iSeries and
AS/400 systems in their businesses

In 2003, for the sixth consecutive year, iSeries was ranked
number one in Nikkei Computer?s Customer Satisfaction
Survey?

More data available here:
http://db.kmkg.de/cgi-bin/download.pl?file=/infos/1460-2.pdf
 

-----------------------------------------------------


?There are over 700,000 AS/400 installations worldwide, with 250,000
customers. AS/400 has been independently assessed as the most
successful enterprise-class business computing platform in the
mid-market space.?

?IBM's investigations of its iSeries installed user base found 70 per
cent have NT installed.?
Computer Weekly: May 2001
http://www.computerweekly.com/Article101059.htm


-----------------------------------------------------


IBM Reveals Interesting iSeries Statistics 

?Kim Stevenson, vice president of iSeries marketing at IBM, recently
held an iSeries Nation chat, and spent a lot of time talking about the
new iSeries Model 890 and V5R2 announcements, as you might expect. But
she also divulged a bunch of interesting statistics about the iSeries
installed base. And she made a number of other interesting comments as
well.?

Read the full text of this article a great deal of statistics is provided.

Midrange Server, Inc.
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh051302-story03.html


-----------------------------------------------------

From Forrester Research: Fee based research

IBM iSeries and LPARs: What's New, Where to Use
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,28381,00.html

Best-Of-Breed Virtualization - Still Critical Selection Criteria For
IBM iSeries Adoption
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,33562,00.html

Dynamic LPARs on IBM iSeries: The Pearl in the Oyster
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,18084,00.html

IBM iSeries Joins zSeries With a Dedicated Linux Offering
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,26472,00.html

IBM Makes a Play for the Small to Midsize Market With Linux Test Drive for iSeries
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,29984,00.html


-----------------------------------------------------

Table 1B and 1B of this publication presents 3 year TCO and 5 year TCO
for IBM iseries-As400 for small and large companies.
http://www.mosaic21.com/docs/iSeries_TCO_summary.pdf


-----------------------------------------------------


IBM iSeries 400-Focused Media
http://www.techtarget.com/mediakit/mk_400.htm

-----------------------------------------------------

Data retrieval & analysis channel - ISeries
http://www.iseries365.com/Data_retrieval_analysis/

-----------------------------------------------------

Links to iSeries 400 News
http://search400.techtarget.com/news/0,289141,sid3,00.html

-----------------------------------------------------

?HTE software was originally designed and is still most appropriately
run on IBM iSeries (formerly, IBM AS/400) computers. This has been a
very stable and costeffective platform for the City, providing the
advantages of a mainframe operation (reliability, security,
manageability) at a cost that is more in line with that of large
servers. The iSeries line comprises a major source of revenue for IBM,
and is iSeries support more users than any other IBM product line;
Over 100,000 iSeries or AS/400 systems are running worldwide.
Nonetheless, IBM?s that revenue is declining. Part of this decline can
be attributed to lower pricing that IBM offers to keep the iSeries
customer base intact. IBM made a major product announcement in
January, 2003, regarding new iSeries computers and lower, more
flexible pricing. The announcement also expanded the operating systems
the iSeries systems can support. Zdnet UK assesses IBM?s announcement?

City of Pueblo: Information Technology Strategic Plan
June 2003
http://www.pueblo.us/documents/Home/ITStrategicPlan.pdf


-----------------------------------------------------

White Paper: An Independent Analysis of the iSeries Developer Roadmap
Download here:
http://whitepapers.zdnet.co.uk/0,39025945,60092230p-39000500q,00.htm


-----------------------------------------------------

?Two years after the V5R2 announcement, and with V5R3 on the horizon,
the majority of iSeries shops have upgraded to the latest release of
OS/400, according to iSeries 400 Experts? 2003/2004 market survey of
471 iSeries professionals.

Survey results show that 64% of iSeries shops are running V5R2,
more than three times the number of shops running this latest release
a year ago. Forty-two percent are running V5R1 (down from 67% a year
ago), and 15% are still running V4R5 (down from 35% a year ago).

Of those customers not yet running V5R2, 22% reported plans to
upgrade to this latest release in Q1 2004, 10% plan to upgrade in Q2
2004, 6% plan to upgrade in Q3 2004, and 3% will wait until Q4 2004 to
move to V5R2. Many shops are simply waiting for their software vendors
to catch up and run on V5R2.?

(..)

Some shops aren?t on the upgrading fast track. Five percent of
respondents said that they will wait until 2005 to move to V5R2, and
6% of shops do not plan to upgrade to V5R2 at all. Of this 6%, the
majority (52%) report that they simply have no compelling reason to
upgrade.

 ?Basically, if it?s not broken, we don?t fix it. The only
compelling reason to upgrade would be to keep everyone on the latest
version. We have such a rock solid, bullet-proof machine, and it is so
fast and reliable, that there is no compelling reason for us to push
an upgrade and possibly jeopardize the benefits of the machine,? said
Kip Rolle, president, TracNet, Pacific Grove, California.

Other reasons for not upgrading to V5R2 include: waiting for
V5R3 (21%), planning to migrate off of the iSeries platform (17%), and
not having upgrade money in the budget (14%). 
http://www.iseries400experts.com/aiw/02-1604.jsp

-----------------------------------------------------


I hope the information and links given prove useful to you.
 

Best regards,
Bobbie7

Thanks for being so diligent.  I lowered the price since not all the
info was covered, but wanted to tip you for your hard work.  Hope
that's ok...

Dear Belliot,

Here are my findings. Please let me know if this information meets your needs.

Best regards,
Bobbie7



Server Market Share Size Definitely Matters for IBM and HP 
OS/400 Edition
Volume 12, Number 24 -- June 16, 2003

?So how does the iSeries fit into all of this? It is hard to say. In
the 1990s, when the iSeries hardware business was roughly twice as
large as it is now and the server market was considerably smaller, IDC
and Gartner liked to talk about the OS/400 platform a lot more than
they currently do. IBM doesn't help matters any, either. It is always
talking about iSeries sales in terms of the growth in sales quarter to
quarter in constant currency (meaning in each geographic location in
its own currency rather than sales in aggregate as booked by its U.S.
parent corporation in dollars). It never gives the actual sales
figures.?

?What IBM said in its first quarter financial results is that it sold
$2.6 billion in servers and storage. By the way, when you take storage
out, the number that IBM booked is actually a lot less than IBM says.
Yes, this is puzzling, but Gartner is counting sales of base machines
with base hardware and operating systems, which IBM is just
(apparently) talking about server and storage sales.?

?In any event, IBM said that iSeries sales were up 14 percent at
constant currency and up 22 percent as reported (on of the few times
it gave out the growth rate as reported, and probably only because the
weakness of the dollar made the as-reported growth rates look better).
Analysts at Merrill Lynch estimate that Big Blue booked $316 million
in iSeries server sales in the first quarter, up 22 percent from the
$260 million worth of iSeries gear IBM pushed in the first quarter of
2002, one of the worst quarters ever for the box. That gave the
iSeries about 3 percent of the overall server market, using IDC's and
Gartner's numbers for Q1. Considering the fact that IBM revamped the
product line on January 20, the fact that IBM was able to grow sales
at all is a feat worthy of praise, especially considering the price
cuts it implemented as part of the iSeries revamping. It's hard to say
if the second quarter, which ends in two weeks, will be better.
Merrill Lynch thinks IBM will see 10 percent growth for the iSeries
during the quarter, pushing sales up to around $440 million. We'll
know sometime in mid-July exactly how the quarter went for the
iSeries.?

Midrange Server, Inc
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh061603-story01.html



?Indeed, from 2002 to 2003, iSeries was largely flat in the market,
according to research firm IDC. IBM's sales decreased from $2.3
billion to $2.2 billion, while shipments dropped from about 25,000 to
about 23,000.

In comparison, the server market overall grew 3.2 percent from $44.3
billion to $45.7 billion, IDC said.?

TechRepublic 
IBM overhauls iSeries for the long haul
August 9, 2004  
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5302091.html


?Today there are more than 400,000 iSeries and AS/400 servers in use
by more than 245,000 IBM customers in at least 100 countries. The
largest concentration of iSeries and AS/400 customers is in Italy.
According to IBM, customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa
bought 46 percent of all iSeries and AS/400 machines sold.

Since IBM first released them on iSeries in 1999, logical partitions
(LPARs) have become a key facilitator for application and hardware
consolidation. IBM followed its first LPAR announcement with the
introduction of Linux LPARs as an additional consolidation tool in
2001. A Linux LPAR can reduce the maintenance of multiple hardware and
software platforms by enabling users to consolidate low-end Linux- and
Windows-powered Intel servers. Up to 31 separate Linux environments
can be supported on one iSeries server.?

News Forge: March 23, 2004
http://business.newsforge.com/business/04/03/18/1919249.shtml


Partition information at the following links:

?According to sources familiar with IBM's development plans for the
OS/400 operating system, Big Blue plans to significantly expand the
number of logical partitions that an iSeries server can support. IBM's
plans reportedly call for the support of up to 255 logical partitions
on a single machine, which is considerably larger number than the 32
partitions that are supported on today's top-end, 24-way iSeries Model
840 server. Presumably, these partitions will be available to support
OS/400 and Linux--and even AIX some day soon.?
Read the full text of this article here:
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh040802-story02.html

Scroll down to the bottom of the page at the follwoing link to see a
table regarding iSeries processors partiton information.
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/linux/enhance.html

?Q: You also mentioned an increase in the number of partitions. How
many partitions are we talking about here?

A: Today we have 32 partitions on an iSeries server. We?re working on
increasing that number to more than 200 partitions. We?ll continue to
support up to 10 partitions per processor, but we?re working on
expanding the total number, so, for example, on a 4-way, 40 LPARs will
be possible and on an 8-way, 80 LPARs.?
http://eservercomputing.com/iseries/articles/index.asp?id=888


IBM Server Snapshot
http://www.serverwatch.com/hreviews/article.php/3091581

AS/400 Consultant Reports: DH Brown Associates, Inc.
http://www-1.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/conslt/dhb.htm



iSeries:  Small to Medium Enterprises: 

iSeries 800
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/smallmed/800/index.html

iSeries 810;
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/smallmed/810/index.html

iSeries:  Medium to Large Enterprises:

iSeries 825
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/medlarge/825/index.html

iSeries 870
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/medlarge/870/index.html

iSeries 890
Links to:
-  Executive summary  
-  General description  
-  Processor features  
-  Performance measurements 
http://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/store_IBMPublicUSA/en_US/eServer/iSeries/hardware/medlarge/890/index.html


IBM Delivers Model 810 iSeries for HA Server
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh030104-story01.html

Here are a number excellent fee based market reports.

IBM iSeries and AS/400 Life Cycle Report, March/April 2004
Product Type: Market Report 
Published Date: April 2004 
Published By: IDC 
Page Count: 25 

?This IDC study provides residual value forecasts and current fair
market value data for IBM's iSeries and AS/400 systems. The study
explains the current market conditions that are affecting the value of
used hardware on the secondary market and the future technological
changes that will further affect these values. We explore the factors
that have an impact on the server market and the price/performance
increases expected over the next several years. This information helps
those who invest in iSeries hardware assess their risk and provides
guidance on the amount of residual value that is expected to be
realized at the end of the lease term.

"The introduction of the Power5 in the iSeries lineup will have a
significant impact on residual values between now and January 2005. If
IBM's pricing strategy with its pSeries line is any indication, the
new models will offer approximately 50% better performance at the same
price point as current systems. Depending on when customers adopt the
latest technology, more supply of 800, 810, and 825 equipment will
enter the secondary market, driving down pricing," said Jennifer
Koppy, senior research analyst with IDC's Leasing Evaluation Service.
http://www.mindbranch.com/page/catalog/product/2e6a73703f636f64653d523130342d313531313926706172746e65723d30.html

Table of Contents
http://www.mindbranch.com/catalog/product.jsp?display=toc&code=R104-15119&bundle=&partner=0

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IBM iSeries and AS/400 Life Cycle Report, January/February 2003
 
 
Product Type: Market Report 
Published Date: February 2003 
Published By: IDC 
Page Count: 29 

?This IDC study provides residual value forecasts and current fair
market value data for IBM iSeries and AS/400 workstations and servers.
The study explains the current market conditions that are affecting
the value of used hardware on the secondary market and what future
technological changes will further impact these values. We explore the
vendor's current position in the market, its current product lineup,
and the price/performance increases expected over the next several
years. This information helps those who invest in hardware assess
their risk and provides guidance on the amount of residual value that
is expected to be realized at the end of lease term.

"The iSeries has system characteristics and an installed base that is
quite different from that of the pSeries, Sun's Sun Fire and
Enterprise lines, and HP's 9000 line. These differences carry through
to the secondary market, and understanding the systems and the
customer base are essential in determining future value for iSeries
hardware." - Jennifer Koppy, senior research analyst, Leasing
Evaluation Service?
http://www.mindbranch.com/catalog/product.jsp?code=R104-11839&psrc=gsitemap


--------------------------------------------------------------

IBM AS/400 and iSeries Life Cycle Report, March/April 2002
http://www.mindbranch.com/page/catalog/product/2e6a73703f636f64653d523130342d3933303626706172746e65723d30.html

--------------------------------------------------------------


Another article:

?ISeries probably declined by 11 percent in the last quarter of 2002,
according to analyst John Jones, of SoundView Technology Group, quoted
in iSeries Network. He reckons that zSeries dropped 2 percent, pSeries
grew 2 percent and xSeries grew 16 percent, adding most to IBM's
overall hardware profit growth of 1 percent in the quarter.?
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/0,39023166,20271421,00.htm


Does this information meet your requirements?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

Brian,

Here are my findings.

?Over 300,000 clients run their businesses on an iSeries or
AS/400

More than 750,000 iSeries and AS/400 servers have been
shipped to clients in over 100 countries around the world

99% of the 2002 Fortune companies have utilized iSeries and
AS/400 systems in their businesses

In 2003, for the sixth consecutive year, iSeries was ranked
number one in Nikkei Computer?s Customer Satisfaction
Survey?

More data available here:
http://db.kmkg.de/cgi-bin/download.pl?file=/infos/1460-2.pdf
 

-----------------------------------------------------


?There are over 700,000 AS/400 installations worldwide, with 250,000
customers. AS/400 has been independently assessed as the most
successful enterprise-class business computing platform in the
mid-market space.?

?IBM's investigations of its iSeries installed user base found 70 per
cent have NT installed.?
Computer Weekly: May 2001
http://www.computerweekly.com/Article101059.htm


-----------------------------------------------------


IBM Reveals Interesting iSeries Statistics 

?Kim Stevenson, vice president of iSeries marketing at IBM, recently
held an iSeries Nation chat, and spent a lot of time talking about the
new iSeries Model 890 and V5R2 announcements, as you might expect. But
she also divulged a bunch of interesting statistics about the iSeries
installed base. And she made a number of other interesting comments as
well.?

Read the full text of this article a great deal of statistics is provided.

Midrange Server, Inc.
http://www.midrangeserver.com/tfh/tfh051302-story03.html


-----------------------------------------------------

From Forrester Research: Fee based research

IBM iSeries and LPARs: What's New, Where to Use
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,28381,00.html

Best-Of-Breed Virtualization - Still Critical Selection Criteria For
IBM iSeries Adoption
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,33562,00.html

Dynamic LPARs on IBM iSeries: The Pearl in the Oyster
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,18084,00.html

IBM iSeries Joins zSeries With a Dedicated Linux Offering
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,26472,00.html

IBM Makes a Play for the Small to Midsize Market With Linux Test Drive for iSeries
http://www.forrester.com/Research/LegacyIT/Excerpt/0,7208,29984,00.html


-----------------------------------------------------

Table 1B and 1B of this publication presents 3 year TCO and 5 year TCO
for IBM iseries-As400 for small and large companies.
http://www.mosaic21.com/docs/iSeries_TCO_summary.pdf


-----------------------------------------------------


IBM iSeries 400-Focused Media
http://www.techtarget.com/mediakit/mk_400.htm

-----------------------------------------------------

Data retrieval & analysis channel - ISeries
http://www.iseries365.com/Data_retrieval_analysis/

-----------------------------------------------------

Links to iSeries 400 News
http://search400.techtarget.com/news/0,289141,sid3,00.html

-----------------------------------------------------

?HTE software was originally designed and is still most appropriately
run on IBM iSeries (formerly, IBM AS/400) computers. This has been a
very stable and costeffective platform for the City, providing the
advantages of a mainframe operation (reliability, security,
manageability) at a cost that is more in line with that of large
servers. The iSeries line comprises a major source of revenue for IBM,
and is iSeries support more users than any other IBM product line;
Over 100,000 iSeries or AS/400 systems are running worldwide.
Nonetheless, IBM?s that revenue is declining. Part of this decline can
be attributed to lower pricing that IBM offers to keep the iSeries
customer base intact. IBM made a major product announcement in
January, 2003, regarding new iSeries computers and lower, more
flexible pricing. The announcement also expanded the operating systems
the iSeries systems can support. Zdnet UK assesses IBM?s announcement?

City of Pueblo: Information Technology Strategic Plan
June 2003
http://www.pueblo.us/documents/Home/ITStrategicPlan.pdf


-----------------------------------------------------

White Paper: An Independent Analysis of the iSeries Developer Roadmap
Download here:
http://whitepapers.zdnet.co.uk/0,39025945,60092230p-39000500q,00.htm


-----------------------------------------------------



Brian, I realize that I wasn?t able to locate all the information you
requested in your question.

If you are interested in the partial information that I was able to
locate, you could lower the price of your question accordingly, and I
will gladly post my findings as the official answer to your question.

(You can change the price by going to "My Account,"
selecting "My Unanswered Questions", clicking on the question, and
then clicking on "Change Question Parameters" to modify the pricing.)


Best regards,
Bobbie7

Dear Brian,

I have been researching your question during most of the day and I
located the following information.


?Two years after the V5R2 announcement, and with V5R3 on the horizon,
the majority of iSeries shops have upgraded to the latest release of
OS/400, according to iSeries 400 Experts? 2003/2004 market survey of
471 iSeries professionals.

      Survey results show that 64% of iSeries shops are running V5R2,
more than three times the number of shops running this latest release
a year ago. Forty-two percent are running V5R1 (down from 67% a year
ago), and 15% are still running V4R5 (down from 35% a year ago).

      Of those customers not yet running V5R2, 22% reported plans to
upgrade to this latest release in Q1 2004, 10% plan to upgrade in Q2
2004, 6% plan to upgrade in Q3 2004, and 3% will wait until Q4 2004 to
move to V5R2. Many shops are simply waiting for their software vendors
to catch up and run on V5R2.?

(..)

Some shops aren?t on the upgrading fast track. Five percent of
respondents said that they will wait until 2005 to move to V5R2, and
6% of shops do not plan to upgrade to V5R2 at all. Of this 6%, the
majority (52%) report that they simply have no compelling reason to
upgrade.

      ?Basically, if it?s not broken, we don?t fix it. The only
compelling reason to upgrade would be to keep everyone on the latest
version. We have such a rock solid, bullet-proof machine, and it is so
fast and reliable, that there is no compelling reason for us to push
an upgrade and possibly jeopardize the benefits of the machine,? said
Kip Rolle, president, TracNet, Pacific Grove, California.

      Other reasons for not upgrading to V5R2 include: waiting for
V5R3 (21%), planning to migrate off of the iSeries platform (17%), and
not having upgrade money in the budget (14%).

 
http://www.iseries400experts.com/aiw/02-1604.jsp

Please let me know how to proceed.

Thanks,
Bobbie7

Dear Brian,

Thank you for the five stars and tip!

I appreciate it. As always, it has been a pleasure to work with you.

Sincerely,
Bobbie7