IBM UK’s AIX Systems Manager David McKenzie says that RS/6000 Models 320, 520 and 530 are now on three-week lead times for delivery in the UK, the 540 five weeks and the rack-mounted 930 six weeks. In the UK around 70% of RS/6000s so far installed have been at commercial sites, says McKenzie – the figure is between 30% and 40% in the US, says Dale Legband from IBM’s Performance Evaluation Centre in the US. IBM is expected to put more emphasis on the commercial market in the US following new benchmarking with commercial applications. Legband says IBM has identified things it needs to get better at in order compete with firms like Sun Microsystems, including graphics performance in the mid-range, though he says IBM has been achieving successes over Sun where they’ve competed head-to-head.
