The launch of IBM Corp’s 9076 SP1 Power RISC-based parallel machine in the US was accompanied by announcement of the creation of an internal joint business unit called Power Parallel Systems, which will focus on the development of parallel computers – including the parallel mainframe consisting of multiple System/390 microprocessors. The new unit will draw on the resources of the Enterprise Systems mainframe business, and the Advanced Workstations and Systems group, but will be an independent business unit of IBM with separate financial objectives and measurements. Power Parallel Systems will be jointly headed by Irving Wladawsky-Berger, former supercomputer chief, and Phil Hester, vice-president of systems and technology in the workstations group. IBM was also able to announce its first orders for the Power Parallel machine – from the Argonne National Laboratory and Halliburton Co’s Geophysical Services; it will ship various configurations of the machine to 15 to 20 other customers in the second quarter, ahead of general availability of the SP1, which is set for October.
