I.B.M.'s New System For Huge Computers

By David E. Sanger
The New York Times

February 16, 1988

Seeking to outmaneuver several Japanese competitors, the International Business Machines Corporation introduced an improved operating system for its largest computers yesterday. It said the system would be provided without charge to current owners of its most advanced mainframes.

The new product, which I.B.M. characterized as its ''most significant large systems announcement in seven years,'' should significantly increase the efficiency with which I.B.M. mainframes manipulate billions of bits of data. It is the first major change since 1981 in the company's mainframe operating systems - the programs that guide a computer's basic internal operations.

A Message to 'Defectors'

More importantly, it appears to be a change that will take competitors like Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd. and other makers of I.B.M.-compatible mainframes perhaps up to two years to replicate. By providing the new operating system to its customers, I.B.M. made it clear yesterday that it was sending a message to corporate users that have switched to less expensive Japanese equipment.

''I wanted to reward customers who installed the 3090E,'' said Carl J. Conti, who heads I.B.M. Enterprise Systems, the newly formed organization that develops the company's largest computers. He was referring to the latest of the I.B.M. 3090 mainframes, informally known as the Sierra series.

''I don't feel really bad if customers who chose something else feel left out,'' Mr. Conti said.

I.B.M. also announced two new versions of the 3090E, selling for $4.9 million and $9.7 million; two new models of its mid-sized 4381 processors and several new systems for high-capacity data storage that had long been urged by I.B.M. users.

Effort to Help Mainframe Sales

The announcements come as I.B.M. has been under increasing pressure to raise sales of its mainframes, historically the company's most profitable machines. A growing number of analysts and I.B.M. users say the current 3090 line is underpowered, and many have chosen to buy less-expensive older models, often used equipment, rather than invest in I.B.M.'s state-of-the-art equipment.

Now I.B.M. appears to have made that choice more difficult. The new operating system, built around what I.B.M. calls a new Enterprise System Architecture, will run existing application programs written for I.B.M. mainframes. But a range of new application programs will be written to take advantage of the more powerful software announced yesterday, meaning that many owners of older equipment will ultimately be forced to upgrade their equipment.

''Our future investment is clearly in Enterprise System Architecture,'' said Lee A. Dayton, the assistant group executive for marketing and support for I.B.M.'s large systems.

The announcement will chiefly benefit users who run huge programs on I.B.M. equipment, especially for numerically intensive engineering and mathematical tasks. I.B.M.'s new operating system will allow its mainframes to ''address,'' or see at one time, about 16 trillion characters of data. That is roughly an 8,000-fold improvement over the current system.

But performance advantages will be minimal, at least initially. The company said its largest processor should run about 12 percent faster under the new operating system. But it would not make any predictions about speed increases in the overall computer systems, which involve far more equipment.

The One-Upsmanship Battle

I.B.M.'s move is the latest tactic in a never-ending war of one-upsmanship between the world's largest computer maker and the companies that offer compatible equipment. Often, I.B.M. simply makes hardware changes that increase the speed of a machine. But such increases have become so predictable that competitors often match the improvement within months.

But changes in the operating system are far more complex. Often, they involve proprietary software code that is difficult to replicate, and competitors are never entirely certain that their versions are entirely compatible with I.B.M.'s.

Thus, operating system information is highly sought by I.B.M.'s competitors, and both Hitachi and Fujitsu were accused several years ago of trying to steal some data.

''Historically, it has taken competitors about two years to match these kinds of changes, although they always say they will do it right away,'' Mr. Conti said. Mr. Conti also said I.B.M.'s smallest mainframe, the 9370, which has met with only mixed success since it was introduced last year, had been moved under his control in a recent I.B.M. reorganization because ''it is better positioned'' as a member of I.B.M.'s mainframe computer family. When it was introduced, the computer was touted as a mid-range machine and was not handled by the division that built I.B.M.'s bigger computers.

Mr. Conti also said Steven S. Chen, the former Cray Research Inc. supercomputer designer who recently signed on with I.B.M., had been ''actively looking at a series of I.B.M. technologies'' for incorporation in a supercomputer expected in 1991 or 1992. While Mr. Chen has signed a contract with I.B.M., he is actually working from a company of his own that he founded after leaving Cray amid a dispute over the supercomputer maker's willingness to finance his next major project.

Mr. Conti declined to say how much I.B.M. is willing to spend on Mr. Chen's venture, though Cray executives said it would cost $100 million to $200 million. But Mr. Conti said Mr. Chen ''has been very conservative so far.'' He added, ''He hasn't asked for anything weird yet.''