IBM boosts mainframe support, services

IDG News Service - As IBM prepares to ship new versions of its zSeries 990 mainframe computers later this month, the company is ramping up its zSeries technical support operation and today began offering customers a $250,000 credit to encourage them to buy big-iron systems.
Following up on its A z990 and B z990 models, which were introduced last spring, IBM on Oct. 31 will begin shipping the C z990 and D z990. The Model C z990 will be a 24-processor machine; the Model D will contain 32 processors.
The company also plans to increase by a third or more the $250 million it spends annually on technical support by creating a new class of technical support consultants, called IBM system architects. In addition, IBM said it will increase its spending on hardware and software support for the mainframe.
"We're increasing our investment in the area of 30% to 40% over the next six months, including these new system architects," said Pete McCaffrey, IBM's director of zSeries product marketing.
About half of the new support investment will be spent on the system architects, who will be available free of charge to mainframe customers. "We're introducing this new role, which is more of a higher-level, broader role. Previously, a customer would have to hire a consultant to provide this level of service," McCaffrey said. "Initially, we'll be deploying about 150 around the world. They'll be deployed into our top accounts on an as-needed basis."
The system architects will be charged with evaluating their customers' IT environments and providing consulting services to help users simplify and consolidate IT operations.
The other half of the money will be spent on "beefing up the specialist community that supports these architects," McCaffrey said. This money will be spent primarily on adding more staffers to the 1,000 technical support specialists who already work in IBM's zSeries group, he said.
IBM's moves are partly designed to assuage fears IT managers might have about a thinning of the mainframe workforce, as the technology becomes less prevalent in IT, said John Phelps, a research vice president at Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. "They want to build up confidence in the mainframe, that there are people out there who can help them," he said.
"You worry about the mainframe from a skills basis because you don't have a lot of people coming out of college who have been trained that way," Phelps added. "I see this as moving back to that environment where you're getting this kind of good support from the vendor without having