IBM z15 - One Year On

Where does the time go? I can't believe its been a year since I was in The World Trade Center in NYC with an auditorium full of clients, partners, media and IBM Subject Matter Experts tightly packed together (yes, you could do things like that back then) as the crowd eagerly awaited the unveiling of IBM z15. As we come up to the one year anniversary of that day it feels like this would be a good time to reflect on where we are with z15 adoption by our clients and also share some perspectives on how Z fits in the marketplace, especially in light of what has been an unprecedented time for the world.

Record MIPS, huge adoption

One of my favourite analogies is that if building and delivering software products is like making television, delivering hardware is like making a movie. The investment is big, there is a long lead time to release and from an Offering Management perspective when you come onboard in the case of Z you already start with a pretty good script. With z15 we partnered with over 100 clients on everything from the form factor and data center experience, to the software stack and value add services. But just like with a movie, you can do your test screenings and build your confidence, but you never really know for sure how the market is going to react until its out in the wild.

75% of the World's Top 20 Banks have acquired IBM z15 Systems for their enterprise

Thankfully with z15 we've had a tremendous response in the market place. The momentum began with what we were seeing at our client launch events and media coverage, and that has now translated into real client adoption. In 4Q 2019 off the back of the z15 launch we shipped the highest number of MIPS in history, as reported by Jim Kavanaugh, IBM CFO in our earnings report. Not only that but one year on if you look at the top 20 banks in the world by market capitalization, 75% have acquired IBM z15 systems for their enterprise. Huge validation of the value that z15 can bring to some of the largest enterprises in the world. Its also been a stellar 12 months when we look at new workload growth on the platform with installed Linux MIPS up 55% compared to last year and new cloud native capabilities such the Ansible Core Collection for z/OS introduced earlier this year getting over 3,900 downloads. On top of that when you look at the new capabilities with z15 we introduced, we've seen some of the fastest ever uptake. Picking just one example with System Recover Boost on z15, not only is this already pervasively used by our install base but we had one client recently comment that their environment started up so fast they thought we'd shipped them the wrong system! Given what our clients have achieved already its exciting to think what they will be able to achieve in the next 12 months.

Single-frame Offering & Continuous Delivery

For those who follow the Z product lifecycle closely they know there is a reasonably consistent pattern for when IBM introduces our new flagship server offerings to the market place, but this year I think we were able to do some really special things in delivering even more value to both existing and new z15 clients. In April this year we introduced our new air cooled, single frame offering the IBM z15 T02, opening up the value of z15 for even more clients to take advantage of and extending our capabilities across cloud native, encryption everywhere and cyber resilience. With such a significant announcement already made, many might expect a quiet second half in 2020 for z15 delivery, so we were delighted to surprise everyone with even more enhancements for z15 in August this year. 

On August 4th this year we announced new continuous delivery enhancements for z15, with a range of capabilities including new Integrated Accelerator for Z sort that can reduce the time needed to complete sort workload during things like batch updates, enhancements for System Recovery Boost that extend the value proposition to a number of Sysplex activities and 16U Reserved Space feature ordering for the T02 that allows for in frame integration of IBM DS8910F storage solutions. Fantastic that we keep the momentum going with our clients to get the most out of their z15 platform.

Cloud flexibility when needed the most

Finally, given the unique times we find ourselves in and the world still dealing with a global pandemic I thought it might be good to just spend a moment and talk about the role that IBM Z has played. Whenever I'm talking to people about the way that we design our systems one of the key aspects I like to focus on is the way that we build our systems with growth in mind. As an example, with the z15 T01, we ship fully populated drawers of compute capacity which means that we ensure there is headroom for our clients to grow. Why do we do that? Well of course capacity planning is a fundamental aspect in making any technology purchase, but some times things happen that you just can't plan for.

IBM Z clients temporarily activated a total of nearly 4x more general purpose capacity via On/Off Capacity on Demand compared to 2Q 2019. Enough capacity to process 2.9 trillion more secure transactions per day

Earlier this year when markets were volatile, retail was surging and overall uncertainty was causing new and unpredictable patterns of activity, this put unique pressure on ensuring business continuity. Due to the way we design our systems clients have the means to tap into temporary capacity via a capability called On/Off Capacity On Demand. When not only was workload surging, but also data centers were being locked down that capability proved absolutely vital. In 2Q 2020, IBM Z clients temporarily activated a total of nearly 4x more general purpose capacity via On/Off Capacity on Demand compared to 2Q 2019. If you're wondering what that much compute power actually equates to? Well when activated at the same time, it would be enough to process up to 2.9 trillion more secure transactions per day. No other server on the planet can provide this level of cloud elasticity, and its things like this that make me proud to be an IBMer and part of the IBM Z team.

Hopefully this has given you some perspective on not just z15, but the role that IBM Z continues to play in the world's economy. As we look forward to the future I'm excited to see what the next wave of z15 clients will be able to achieve with the platform as they unlock more and more of the value that we delivered and they continue on their path to hybrid cloud. If you have something to share on your own perspective, I'd love to hear it so please feel free to write in at the comments section below.