IBM UK Ltd’s head of the Enterprise Systems division, Arthur Parker, is a man filled with optimism about the company’s Parallel Sysplex technology. He claims it is just like having a new business to run and the division is busy getting everything in place to launch parallel processing in the market. This is obviously part of IBM talking up a technology that has yet to show its capacity in the field because no-one has yet to see the appropriate software to run on it. In the UK the Parallel Sysplex system is in beta test at only a handful of sites. Undeterred by these facts, IBM is keen to announce a number of companies are preparing themselves to take on the technology such as insurer Eagle Star. It has upgraded its ES/9021-952 mainframe to a 972 and a ES/9000-900 to a second 972; this will enable the company to attach the new parallel machines at a later date, if it so wishes. Parker adds that since the April announcement about Parallel Sysplex, there has been a high demand for high-end processors but admits that this is due partly to businesses emerging from recession. Parker said For the first time in a little while we are nudging manufacturing capacity. But for as many companies that are telling IBM they are ready for parallel processing, others are still waiting to see the parallel versions of DB2 and CICS software. Parker admits that the key to parallel systems’ success will be to get applications up and running; DB2 is now expected in mid-1995. To assuage fears, IBM has, over the last year, been building stronger relationships with as many software vendors as it can find. Parker says a dozen software vendors are already developing applications for the CMOS-based machines. To push parallel processing even harder, IBM UK Ltd has established a team of salesmen to look outside of its current market place, trying, obviously to win customers away from other high-end systems providers. There is no way of getting back to the revenues of a few years ago, Parker said adding that parallel systems was somewhere money could still be made. – Maya Anaokar
