'Companies that focused on serious applications instead of pretty web sites are enjoying benefits.'

Having joined IBM in 1974, Dr Joel Tendler has been one of the Power4

architects and was involved in S/390 hardware and software design.

Prior to that he was a member of the research staff at Syracuse

University Research Corporation. Since 1998, Joel has been

program director of technology assessment in IBM’s Server

Group located in Austin, Texas. He is responsible for

assessing emerging technologies for applicability

in future iSeries and pSeries eServer product

offerings. Excerpts from the interview:

Is the introduction of Power4 chip

and the launch of p690 eServer a

move to counter the recent developments that are happening in the Silicon Valley

with HP, Compaq and Sun Microsystems?



Three years ago we talked about Power4 chip and we said that

we will sell it in systems this year. This is not something which you can react

tactically. This is a five-year development effort. Five years ago we made up

our mind that we will do it today, and we did it.

We are the only vendor who has been able to deliver all our

promises. So if you look at the p690 and p680 before hand, this is steady

improvement in performance, function and reliability. And we will continue this

improvement.

This is not a tactical decision. Tactical here means ‘Do I

want a answer today or do I want a answer tomorrow?’. I can’t make up my

mind to develop something like this overnight. I may fine tune prices

tactically, but not start over something like that.

So this is absolutely not a response to what HP and Compaq is

doing. Maybe what they are doing is a response to what they are anticipating us

to do. But that is better addressed to HP and Compaq.

According to a recent report, Dell Chairman, Micheal Dell has

called the HP-Compaq merger proposal as one of the dumbest deal. What is your

opinion?



I am sorry, I would like Micheal Dell to talk about that. It

is not for me to comment on that.

Let me put it this way, if HP-Compaq merger is through, would

it be a threat to your server business share worldwide?



If you ask me if their product is going to be threat to ours,

then I think we have a far superior product. If they want to run their business

with a merger, it is their business. But what I want to say is in the long run

we will succeed.

But what if they comes up with something better than p690?



I don’t think so. Compaq and HP have said they are going

out of this business and do something else with Intel. What they are going to do

is unclear to me. I would like to know, how they are going to manage their

business, manage their transition to a new chip, manage their transition into a

merger. Well, that’s for them to address and solve. I wish them luck, I mean

it.

What was your role in the development of Power4 processor?



I was on the project from the very beginning. I was one of

those people who did the design work. It was exciting to start up something as

exciting as building a house. It is like, someone asks you to build a house. And

you ask what kind of house you want? The answer is: "a good one".

So it is exciting when you have a clean sheet of paper to

start with. It’s important because something like this has never been built

before. And to be associated with something like that is really good. I still

relate with the project and work on it.

I think this project is different. We have re-defined the

Unix server. And when I say ‘redefining’, I really believe that. I was

convinced more than ever that we really are a generation ahead of everybody

else. It is better to say publicly that we are impressed with what we have done.

So it is a nice feeling.

There had been pressure from the beginning to the time it was

launched, but its beautiful. I don’t know if you ever got to built a house

yourself. A lot of material goes into building it and when you are finally done,

you get a sense of accomplishment. It is difficult to describe.

There have been so many reports of layoffs in the US because

of the slowdown. How bad do you think the scene is and when do you think

recovery will start?



About the employment scene, i would say everything is

relative. As far as slowdown affecting our business, I would directly turn to

IBM Chairman Louis Gerstner recent statements that the high-tech boom has never

slowed down and Big Blue could not be performing any better than it is today. He

had said that the dot-com meltdown that has impacted most of the high-tech

industry is playing into IBM’s strengths in services, software and

semiconductor technology. Companies that focused on serious applications instead

of throwing up pretty web sites are enjoying benefits.

How do you place IBM with the launch of new generation of eServers?



IBM is the only company in the world that offers end-to-end

solutions to customers from hardware to software and services. IBM eServers have

the clear advantage of providing multiple options across all platforms to suit

exact requirements of any business.

eServers are known for their reliability, availability,

scalability and serviceability. The eServer portfolio starts from the xSeries

erstwhile Netfinity servers–a range of low-end Intel based servers to iSeries

(AS/400e)– integrated business servers, pSeries (RS6000) - the Unix-based

range and the mainframe (S390) - zSeries.

What does the prefix ‘i’, ‘p’, ‘z’ and ‘x’

stands for in the different series of servers from IBM?



‘i’ stands for integrated business application, ‘p’

stands for price/performance, ‘z’ stands for zero downtime and ‘x’

stands for affordable cross X-architecture used in Intel processors-based

servers.

NELSON JOHNY in Mumbai