ARMONK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/31/06 -- IBM today announces the next generation of its leading "all-in-one" IT platform for small and mid-size businesses -- the System i5 line -- with major advances to help simplify IT operations. The new System i5 line helps small and medium businesses mask the complexity of IT operations, delivers excellent performance, and helps promote solutions innovation with broad application choices across four operating systems.

IBM is delivering the System i5 line with its leading POWER5+ processor, a dual-core "system on a chip" that runs at speeds up to 2.2 GHz, and shows up to a 33 percent increase in performance over the current POWER5-based iSeries models.

IBM is introducing a new version of its integrated operating system, i5/OS V5R4, plus extending greater flexibility to run Linux, AIX 5L and Microsoft Windows applications on the same system(1). i5/OS V5R4 delivers enhanced security and disaster recovery features that help companies promote continuous operations and make outages of any kind -- planned or unplanned -- transparent to their business.

Because small and mid-size businesses have fewer IT staff, the System i5 platform is designed as an "all-in-one" IT system. It comes prepackaged with the hardware and software needed to run business applications -- the database, application servers, operating system, networking, security and management tools, plus storage.

"The System i5 platform sets a new standard for simplicity and application flexibility that strongly resonates with IT managers in small to mid-sized businesses," said Mark Shearer, IBM System i5 general manager. "Today's news combined with our System i5 Initiative for Innovation shows that IBM is focused on continuing to help small and medium companies gain a strong return-on-investment as they deploy new applications they need to help grow their business."

Additional new features that help simplify IT operations for small and medium businesses include:

--  Extended Microsoft Windows Integration. IBM is previewing the future
    integration of IBM BladeCenter and xSeries to System i5 storage via an
    open, industry-standard iSCSI connection. This will give customers an
    easier and more flexible way to integrate and manage multiple Intel-based
    systems from the System i5 platform.

--  Enhanced security and compliance options.  With i5/OS V5R4, new
    auditing and intrusion detection capabilities help companies protect
    against network attacks such as scanning for open TCP/IP ports.

--  Virtual Tape support helps promote continuous operations.  With
    virtual tape support in V5R4, companies can now save directly to disk
    instead of a tape drive.  By enabling faster save operations, companies can
    help reduce the time their applications are unavailable during backup
    operations.

--  New easy-to-use database management tools. The DB2 UDB database is an
    integrated feature of i5/OS.  Now with new i5/OS V5R4 integrated database
    management tools, a database administrator can help more quickly identify
    and correct database performance problems and reduce time spent on day-to-
    day database maintenance

--  Simpler integration with IBM Storage Area Networks.  IBM offers both
    integrated storage and SAN-attached options for the System i5 platform.
    The IBM TotalStorage DS8000 and DS6000 offer technology that is scalable,
    flexible and easy to manage.  With the new i5/OS V5R4 boot from SAN
    capability, companies can help further simplify the deployment and
    operations of their storage, starting the operating system directly from
    the IBM SAN server.
    

Additional new features that help promote solutions innovation for small and medium businesses include:

--  New 32-bit Java Virtual Machine helps reduce the cost of deploying
    Java applications.  i5/OS has been a fully 64-bit operating system since
    1995.  A new 32-bit JVM in i5/OS V5R4, however, enables small companies to
    reduce memory costs required to deploy Java applications.

--  New options to deploy SOA applications.  Many small to mid-sized
    businesses implementing a Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) want to make
    their existing applications available as a web service, or alternatively
    access Web-services from their business processing applications.  Now i5/OS
    V5R4 incorporates open source Apache Axis application programming
    interfaces (APIs) to help enable simpler integration between i5/OS
    applications and SOA Web-services.

--  New Capacity on Demand features help support business growth.  Now
    available for the first time on the IBM System i5 520 2-way model, this
    feature enables companies to switch-on the second processor either
    temporarily, to handle peaks in business processing requirements, or
    permanently to support business growth.  Capacity on Demand is ideal for
    companies who need the flexibility to add new applications without
    incurring the costs of managing a second server.

--  IBM Accelerator for System i5 opens more options to deploy new
    applications. One of a number of Capacity-on-Demand features for the System
    i5, the Accelerator helps boost performance on systems designed for small
    businesses.  It enables small companies simply to add capacity to run Web-
    enabled and groupware solutions on the same system as their core business
    applications.  Running multiple applications on a single server helps small
    businesses optimize and integrate their IT operations, helping them avoid
    the costs of running multiple, under-utilized servers, each dedicated to a
    single application.

--  New WebFacing Deployment Tool to help extend applications to browser-
    based users.  With the new WebFacing Deployment Tool, IBM integrates the
    deployment of its two most popular Web-enablement tools -- IBM WebFacing
    and IBM Host Access Transformation Server -- with a single run-time
    providing seamless operations for browser-based users.
    

Kevin Dunn, IT manager at Shambaugh & Son, an engineering firm and long-time iSeries customer, reports that in tests i5/OS V5R4 has enabled his organization to increase functionally on the system, which supports four sister companies, and is easier to use. "We have been testing i5/OS V5R4 on our system and have experienced noticeably better performance with no downtime," said Dunn. "We love what the new operating system delivers."

Product Availability

The enhanced POWER5 microprocessor technology for System i5 products is available on all models -- 520, 550, 570, and 595 -- and is planned to ship on February 14, 2006. Integration of BladeCenter and System i5 is planned to be available to customers in May 2006. Various financing options are available for any of the iSeries products to help provide clients a simple way to add capacity and leverage their IT investment. For more information visit: http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/iseries/.

About the IBM System i5

The IBM System i5 platform is a tightly integrated system including hardware, middleware, storage and security. The System i5 platform can run i5/OS, Windows (via an integrated Intel-based server option), Linux and AIX 5L operating environments simultaneously so clients can reinvest those savings to help grow their business. Business partners and solutions providers of all sizes drive System i5 platform success by building, selling and deploying over 6,400 of the world's most popular business applications for their clients on the System i5 platform.

IBM Systems and Technology Group

IBM systems and technologies facilitate the sharing of servers, storage and networking resources to create true on demand operations that enable businesses to collaborate more efficiently and securely. IBM Systems and Technology Group delivers innovative solutions for the increased collaboration between companies and institutions that has begun to blur the traditional lines of information technology. New technologies like virtualization, open standards and encryption help organizations and partners share information in real-time and collaborate seamlessly on innovative applications ranging from designing automobiles and aircraft to discovering new medicines.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key IBM Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of on demand business. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.

Footnotes

(1) The System i5 platform can run Microsoft Windows via an integrated Intel-based server option.

The following are either trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both: IBM, the IBM e-business logo, iSeries, i5, POWER5+, AIX, BladeCenter.

Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.

Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both.

SPEC and the benchmark name SPECjbb2000 are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corp (SPEC). All others are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Statements concerning IBM's future development plans and schedules are made for planning purposes only, and are subject to change or withdrawal without notice.

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Contact:
Colleen Haikes
IBM Media Relations
(415) 545-4003
chaikes@us.ibm.com

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