IBM PureSystems: A new class of Expert Integrated Systems

Its been a couple of weeks since my last post.  I have to admit that after all the material I wrote, reviewed, and edited for two recent product launches – DB2 & InfoSphere Warehouse 10 and IBM PureSystems – I needed a bit of a rest.  And before I forget – kudos and thank you to the not-so-small army of  folks from the organization I lead, and from across the many IBM organizations that generated all that material and drove the launch activities around the world.

I already wrote about DB2 and InfoSphere Warehouse 10, and set up the PureSystems news with a post about Expert Integrated Systems.  I wanted to save my post about IBM PureSystems to comment on the announcement experience and reaction.  I was fortunate to be in London for discussions with press, analysts, partners and clients who attended our announcement event.  For us product marketing types – nothing beats seeing and hearing the immediate reaction to the product story we have helped develop over months (or even years).

A new era of computing with Expert Integrated System

I have to say I am generally pleased that the value of this new class of systems was understood by those who attended our events around the world and on-line.  I am also not at all surprised that the reaction of many is:  “I will need to see this for myself, it sounds too good to be true.”  This launch experience reminds me of the 2001 launch of eclipse.org and the WebSphere Studio portfolio built on the then new eclipse technology.

At the time, most were skeptical of the future we painted about development and operations tools being built by an ecosystem of providers to “plug-in” to a common platform – creating a new level of cost efficiency and team productivity.   A couple of years later, no one was questioning that this new approach had changed the game and set a new level of expectations among clients.

I predict that in a year or two, no one will be questioning the new level cost efficiency and productivity that result from using systems that come with, and easily plug-in, expertise from IBM, a growing ecosystem of solution providers, as well as client IT teams.  These systems are designed to improve the experience and economics of IT – simplifying and speeding solution development, deployment and ongoing management – in both traditional and cloud computing environments.  It goes beyond the level of bundling and integration we have seen in the industry thus far.

Unlocking the resources needs to make the next leap forward in business computing

One question I heard a lot in the process of introducing IBM PureSystems was:  “So does this built in expertise and automated deployment and management mean this is about helping clients cut IT staff?”   For those of you with the 18+ months of project backlogs; or the 23% reporting projects behind schedule, over budget or both; or those who are unable to find enough expert skills to keep up with the demands of your business – you know this is about doing more with the resources you have.   IBM PureSystems are designed to free your valuable resources – people and money – from the mundane, repetitive and error prone tasks, so they can focus on delivering the new value that business leaders are demanding.

Discussing this topic with folks reminded me of a Curt Monash post about the future of enterprise application software.  Curt expands on a Sarah Lacy post about the change due in enterprise applications.  Several of the points Curt and Sarah make line up with topics I have already covered about the implications of the new era of data management we have entered.  Curt cites several factors driving updates to applications:

• better integration with communications technology
• better integration with analytics technology
• better use of different kinds of data – e.g., machine generated
• integrating social software
• taking advantage of software as a service

IBM PureSystems offer a set of capabilities that can help our clients accelerate this move (if not leap) forward.  By both freeing resources from today’s burdens and helping them accelerate new innovations and the benefits of cloud computing.

Over 100 years of innovations and still going strong

IBM started over 100 years ago when business machines were scales and time clocks.  Since then IBMers have given the world the general purpose business computing system, the Automated Teller Machine (ATM), the Universal Product Code (UPC “bar code”), and many other innovations that have helped transform businesses in all industries.  I believe that some future writer will include Expert Integrated Systems on their list of transformative innovations from IBM.