October 24, 2006

IBM's iSeries & 3Com - Single Server for VOIP Telecommunications

A few days ago I told you about how IBM's iSeries can be configured to host SAP's software. This week, IBM announced that it's partnering with 3Com to enable its iSeries to host a VOIP telecommunication server.

Traditionally you would need a separate server for the various functions of your telecommunications system - all processing, messaging and conferencing, for example -- which presents integration and systems management challenges, especially for small and medium-sized businesses that may have limited IT resources.

However, IBM's iSeries does not only enable you to have one server for your telecom you can have your telecom also share space with your applications.

"Both IBM and its customers believe that System i is an ideal platform to run your business, but the exciting part of today¬?s news is that whether you are familiar with the value System i provides or not, you can¬?t help but recognize the benefit of running your entire business and your IP telephony simultaneously on a single system," said Mark Shearer, general manager of IBM System i. "System i IP telephony can support from 100 to thousands of phone users and our analysis shows that it will deliver a return in investment in less than one year."

The decision to go with one server or several server is something you really should speak about with your IT consultant. You might want to speak to an iSeries consultant as well to clearly get both the pros and cons of using one server to host all your business applications.

IBM's iSeries is competing head on with servers from Dell, HP and Gateway and with Microsoft's server operating system Windows 2000/2003.

System i IP Telephony offers flexible options for purchase and deployment. The System i IP Telephony Express Editions, available in early November 2006, are sized and priced for companies from 100-1,000 users and can be added to new or existing System i platforms. The importance of solution availability motivated IBM to offer System i IP Telephony Express Editions in both single and double system versions ¬? one to act as the primary system and another correctly sized, configured and attractively priced to serve as the back up system. A single system offering starts at $37,900 and a double system offering for high availability starts at $51,900.

Get more information on the System i here.

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