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  1. ________________________________________________________________________
  2. |                                                                      |
  3. |     Report prepared by:    Faulkner Information Services            |
  4. |                                                                      114 Cooper Center                        |
  5. |                                                                      7905 Browning Road                       |
  6. |                                                                      Pennsauken, NJ 08109 USA                 |
  7. |               Telephone:   609-662-2070                             |
  8. |                                    Fax:                              609-662-6634                             |
  9. |                                                                      |
  10. |     Report submitted on:   August 2, 1993                           |
  11. |______________________________________________________________________|
  12.  
  13. Chapter 7:  IBM's System/88
  14.  
  15. Section 7.1:  Introduction
  16.  
  17. Section 7.1.1:  Product Line Positioning
  18.  
  19. The hardware for the System/88 series is purchased through an OEM
  20. agreement with Stratus Computers. This OEM agreement has given both IBM
  21. and Stratus a solid position among the leaders in the fault-tolerant
  22. market. Stratus ranks second among the various competitors in the
  23. market. 
  24.     In addition to competing against Stratus' own fault-tolerant systems,
  25. the XA/2000 and XA/R, IBM competes with the following vendors:
  26.     o Tandem Computers, whose NonStop systems are the leaders in the
  27.       fault-tolerant market.
  28.     o Sequoia Computer Systems, which markets a UNIX-based TOPIX
  29.       operating system and a tightly-coupled architecture with
  30.       fault-detection and recovery capabilities.
  31.     o Digital Equipment, which markets the VAXft 3000 Series as its
  32.       mid-range fault-tolerant strategy.
  33.  
  34.     Markets for the System/88 include:
  35.     o continuous on-line transaction processing 
  36.     o automatic teller machines
  37.     o financial and telecommunications markets
  38.     o networked reservation systems
  39.     o lottery ticketing systems
  40.     o manufacturing inventory systems
  41.     o law enforcement and security
  42.  
  43. Section 7.1.2:  Product Line Strategies
  44.  
  45. IBM's goal with the System/88 line of fault-tolerant systems is to hold
  46. a substantial share of the OLTP market in industries such as those
  47. listed above. The market for fault-tolerant systems in these types of
  48. industries has experienced continued growth as more and varied on-line
  49. transaction processing applications evolve.
  50.     The Stratus OEM agreement allows IBM to provide the low-cost,
  51. expandable processors that have made Stratus' redundant hardware
  52. approach to fault tolerance increasingly attractive. IBM provides
  53. enhanced versions of the OEMed systems, with additional compatibility
  54. features and support, helping the System/88 to stand apart from its XA/R
  55. and XA/2000 counterparts.
  56.  
  57. Section 7.1.3:  Strengths and Weaknesses
  58.  
  59.     Strengths
  60.     =========
  61.     o IBM's enhanced version of the system design provides over 200
  62.       value-added communications features and products.
  63.       
  64.     Weaknesses
  65.     ==========
  66.     o While IBM offers numerous support centers, it does not specifically
  67.       support only fault-tolerant systems. Vendors such as Tandem and
  68.       Stratus offer service centers more specifically dedicated to fault-
  69.       tolerant architecture.
  70.  
  71. Section 7.1.4:  Futures
  72.  
  73. IBM has announced its intention to support Open Systems Interconnection
  74. (OSI), via the inclusion of the Open Software Foundation's (OSF's)
  75. Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) and Transarc's Encina.
  76.  
  77. ________________________________________________________________________
  78. |                                                                      |
  79. |     Report prepared by:     Faulkner Information Services            |
  80. |                                                                      |
  81. |    Report submitted on:     August 2, 1993                           |
  82. |______________________________________________________________________|
  83.