OPTIMIZED SYSTEMS

Online Simulator IDs Computing Costs Savings

Salvatore Salamone | Date: 12-15-11 | Comments

Using a free online tool, CIOs can now quickly model their current computing environment and then compare that environment�s operating costs to a data center based on a consolidated Smarter Computing architecture.

Many organizations today are planning to revamp their IT infrastructures to cut costs, improve availability of IT services and add the needed flexibility to meet changing business requirements.

To help with this transition, IBM this week announced the general availability of its Smarter Computing Workload Simulator. The simulator asks three questions and lets CIOs rapidly model their existing x86, Itanium or SPARC infrastructure. It then runs a simulation that shows the potential economic benefits of moving to IBM POWER7 processor-based Smarter Computing solutions. Specifically, the simulation provides information about savings for hardware, software, facilities, labor and other cost factors over a three-year period.

IBM introduced its Smarter Computing approach earlier this year. The strategy centers around three fundamental aspects which are: leveraging analytics to exploit vast amounts of data for business goals; utilizing optimized systems that are designed for specific tasks; and managing as much of the IT as possible with cloud-computing technologies.

�The simulator zeros in on one aspect of the approach � optimized systems � to give CIOs a quick approximation of how much they could be saving by consolidating their infrastructure with IBM systems,� said John Collins, vice president marketing, strategic systems initiatives, in IBM Systems and Technology group.

The simulator starts by asking the visitor to select either IBM Power Systems or IBM System z to compare to their own IT infrastructure. (IBM will expand the tool to include support for System x in the first half of 2012.) It then asks for the type of industry they�re in, the type of workload to be compared, and the number and types of systems to compare � including those based on Intel Itanium, Intel x86, and/or Sun SPARC.

As the systems are entered, graphical images of servers begin to populate a simulated data center floor. When the user finishes and hits the �Next� button, an alternative data center floor immediately pops up and populates with IBM systems and a breakdown of estimated costs and savings.

Users can drill down for charts and analysis on operating and strategic costs of their infrastructures, and the potential costs and savings of the IBM alternative. For even greater analysis, users can click on the IBM System Consolidation and Evaluation Tool at the end of the simulation that provides a more comprehensive and detailed comparison.