IBM Z14 - the New Standard for Modern Digital Enterprises

IBM z14 - The New Standard for Modern Digital Enterprises

THE CLIPPER GROUP

SM Navigator Navigating Information Technology Horizons Published Since 1993 Report #TCG2017001 July 17, 2017 IBM z14 — The New Standard for Modern Digital Enterprises Analyst: Stephen D. Bartlett Management Summary The race to the top continues, whether it is for jetliners, automobiles, smart phones, or enterprise computers. The Exhibit 1 – The IBM z14 top-of-the-line defines the pinnacle of excellence and the most advanced capabilities, at least until something better comes along. That pinnacle offering sets the standard to which all other offerings must be compared, unless you are sure that that you will be satisfied by something less capable. For many decades, the IBM mainframe has been at the pinnacle of enterprise computing (for the moment, think very- high volume transaction processing, beginning with its bril- liant, world-changing origin 53 years ago. Not resting on the laurels of the previous generation, every three or four years IBM has released a new model with a greatly enhanced but compatible architecture. That’s a lot of new models and enhancements over more than five decades. To think of today’s mainframe as being something from the dark ages would be making the same mistake as comparing today’s Boeing 787 jetliner to a Boeing 727 that was launched in 1962. Both Boeing’s and IBM’s latest model have a strong Source: IBM historical lineage but, really, very little is the same, except the desire to provide the best possible solution at an affordable price per unit of capacity. With its newly announced z14 mainframe, IBM has done it again. As you will learn in this report, the standard of enterprise computing (now with a broader definition and set of goals) has been ratcheted up to new heights. Of course, z14 IN THIS ISSUE is bigger and more capable than its predecessor, the z13; but that is to be expected. What just  Introducing the z14 ...... 2 might surprise you is the extent to which IBM  The Sanity of Encrypting Everything .... 2 has gone to make z14 applicable (and afforda-  Driving Analytics and Machine ble) to a broad set of present-day and forward- Learning on IBM Z ...... 4 looking applications and needs, relevant not  Open and Connected for the Modern only to those enterprises that already have Digital Enterprise ...... 5 mainframes but also to those enterprises who  New Pricing Models Extend the are looking to excel in their large-scale opera- Flexibility of IBM Z ...... 6 tions as a digital enterprise. To get the full  Comparing the z14 to Prior story, please read on. Generations ...... 9  Conclusion ...... 9

The Clipper Group, Inc. - Technology Acquisition Consultants  Internet Publisher One Forest Green Road  Rye, New Hampshire 03870  U.S.A.  781-235-0085  781-235-5454 FAX Visit Clipper at clipper.com  Send comments to [email protected] July 17, 2017 The Clipper Group NavigatorTM Page 2

Introducing the z14 1964. IBM’ mainframe continually has evolved Enhancing the relevancy of the its mainframe to meet the demands of the shifting IT landscape systems, now branded as IBM Z (no longer IBM z and stringent demands of its clients. Beyond that, Systems) has been IBM’s challenge throughout IBM’s mainframe technology continues to antici- its history, beginning with its announcement in pate the needs of its clients and prospects by of- 1964. The enterprise systems playing field now fering leading-edge hardware and software inno- is dominated by virtually everything virtual, the vations that continue to demonstrate improved Cloud (however one wishes to define it), expo- resiliency, higher performance, scalability, and nentially growing end-points (IoT), and a society security. At the core is that IBM’s mainframe that has become dependent and addicted to is the most trusted system on which enterpris- always being connected to a very responsive es can operate their mission-critical applica- computing or data serving resource – whether tions and databases. And, in the case of the they realize it or not. z14, it is noteworthy that over 150 clients have Yet year after year most of the world’s larg- been engaged, some for as long as two years, in est enterprises, and some not so large, happily the design specifications and ultimately the remain dependent on IBM’s mainframe for pro- content of the z14 and many of its supporting cessing critical operations and its role as the elements. computing and data repository backbone. Why is The themes for today’s announcement are not this, you may ask? Because it makes economic focused on the hardware “feeds and speeds” of sense in an always-on, increasingly risky world in the new processor, although there is plenty of which enterprises operate. There are multiple innovation to brag about there – more about that risks that are addressed by IBM mainframes, later. Central to this announcement is continuing including: to build on the existing well-earned trust and 1. The business risk of protecting sensitive expanding the scope of the mainframe’s influ- data from interlopers and evil doers, ence in the ever-more digital world. both outside the enterprise or from with-  By expanding security standard in. through pervasive encryption – data as 2. The business risk of not being sufficient- the new perimeter for protection. ly responsive to the requirements of cus-  By building on the mainframe’s analyt- tomers and other users (or worse, being ic and machine learning capabilities to unavailable). provide continuous intelligence across 3. The business risk of being “pennywise the enterprise. and pound foolish”, i.e., going with a  By extending, connecting, and innovat- supposedly “good enough” solution that ing in the delivery of open enterprise doesn’t ensure that operational and clouds. enterprise requirements will be met.  Most importantly, by introducing new, 4. The infrastructure risk of not having groundbreaking pricing options to enough “spare” capacity to do critical provide more flexibility for modern work when demand spikes unexpectedly workloads to challenge the negative (or the risk of paying for too much for TCO arguments that are too frequently idle excess capacity to cover unexpected leveled at the mainframe. spikes in demand). These four points should dominate what you take This list could go on, but I think that you get away from this paper; although you also should the point. Enterprises have many needs to sat- conclude that z14 is the standard to which all isfy and risks to mitigate. An 80% solution other solutions must be compared. Let’s look at probably doesn’t measure up satisfactorily. each of these. The short, simple answer is that IBM Z mainframes have met these requirements for The Sanity of Encrypting Everything many years and now continues to do that, and Intuitively, it would be ideal to encrypt all more, with the new mainframe system an- your enterprise’s data, but historically that notion nounced today, the IBM z14. This is the 14th has been unrealistic and impractical and to sug- generation of IBM’s CMOS technology-based gest doing so would be seen as bordering on system. Clearly, it is very different from the insanity (both technically and economically). original System 360 mainframe announced in The typical objections are:

1. All data does not need to be encrypted.  All of an organization’s digital assets 2. Determining what data needs to be are protected. encrypted is expensive and resource  And, the cost of compliance is signifi- intensive. cantly reduced. 3. The risk of over-classifying essential Clearly, the IBM z14 is the world’s premier data that makes it difficult or impossible system for enabling data as the new perimeter. for to those who require it to perform z14 facilitates the encryption of IBM Z data their responsibilities. in-flight and at-rest with new capabilities in 4. All applications will be impacted – their hardware, operating systems, and middleware performance will be significantly – with no application changes or impact on degraded and modifications will be service level agreements. required. Application and Databases Again, the list could go on. Bulk encryption is enabled in the z/OS for The unasked question, of course, is: What is simple implementation, transparent exploitation, the cost of a data breach by malicious hackers or and optimized performance. Secure Service Con- even from “trusted” insiders? The real life refer- tainer delivers tamper-resistant installation and ences for these being hacked are well known and runtime, restricted admin access, and encryption notorious, yet many enterprises fail to face the of data and code. Encryption is significantly issue head on.1 accelerated in the hardware by a Crypto Copro- Moreover, government and industry agencies cessor that is part of every system core – up to six times faster than in the z13 and up to 18 times are forcing the imperative by promulgating regu- th lations, for example the European Union General faster than the competition – at 1/20 the cost to Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Pay- implement. Additionally, the in-channel PCIe IBM Crypto Express6s is twice the performance ment Card Industry Data Security Standard 3 (PCI-DSS), and the Health Insurance Portability of its predecessor. and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Aside from In-flight Network Data Protection and APIs these examples, it just seems that the survival and Encryption of all incoming and outgoing growth of all enterprises, public or private, network connections delivers end-to-end data depends on continuous protection of all their protection. Cloud connections are secured by data, whether internal or those of enterprise cus- encrypting APIs that are two-to-three times faster tomers, and now the hackers and attackers are than x86.4 Secure APIs enable the integration of forcing the imperative. any z/OS subsystem with transactions outside the Pervasive Encryption is the Answer system, e.g., a Blockchain High Security Busi- IBM mainframes have been equipped for ness Network. several generations to address this issue. But Protection of the Encryption Keys pervasive encryption requires a paradigm shift on High performance and security are enabled the part of the enterprise in order to implement by industry-exclusive protected-key encryption. the best practice. Once pervasive encryption is Robust, centralized full-lifecycle encryption key achieved, a number of issues are addressed. management ensures the availability and security  Encryption is decoupled from classifi- of all enterprise-encrypted data. Encrypted data cation. is safeguarded by protecting encryption keys with  Risk associated with undiscovered or tamper-responding cryptographic hardware misclassified data is reduced. designed to meet FIPS 140-2 Level 4 certifica-  Identifying sensitive data (from insen- tion, the highest level. sitive data) is made more difficult for Compliance attackers.2 Pervasive encryption on IBM Z significantly reduces the time and effort required to meet 1 As a little homework exercise, do a quick audit to determine what percentage of your enterprise’s data is encrypted, on ALL your servers and file systems. There is a high probability that it then you are making the task easier by creating a smaller target is astoundingly low and, therefore, frightening – once you rec- to process (i.e., it’s easier to crack 1% of the files than 100% of ognize your exposure. Remember, it’s not a matter of if you the files). When all of the data is encrypted, the hacker doesn’t will be hacked or attacked, but when. know which data is most valuable to the enterprise. 2 3 According to IBM. In theory, all encrypted data can be hacked, given enough 4 resources and time. If only your most critical data is encrypted, According to IBM.

compliance obligations and complete audits:  The exported data becomes “stale” entire classes of data and users may be removed instantly; and from the scope of compliance. IBM Z data and  Once the data leaves the mainframe, its infrastructure can be encrypted and protected in security cannot be assured nor can its real-time with self-service audit verification. access controlled. Reducing the Threat from the “Malicious” Insider To make the economics even more persua- The z14 enables encryption by policy tied to sive, IBM mainframe hardware and software access control. Separate access control to data designers have continued to make substantial sets and encryption keys provides separation of investments towards that goal. Moreover, they duties greatly simplifying compliance. have reached out into the open development Implementing a Layered Enterprise Cybersecurity community in order to facilitate the incorporation Strategy sources and tools that continue to broaden the capabilities of the platform.7 Pervasive encryption is the foundation of a layered enterprise cybersecurity strategy – IBM’s objective is to empower its clients to 100% encryption means 100% IBM Z. The embrace the z14 as hybrid transactional- z14 provides the most advanced and highest per- analytical platform. The benefits are manifold: formance capabilities to support it. It should in-  Analytical processing is moved to clude traditional workloads and APIs: Db2, IMS, where the data natively resides, thus CICS/VSAM, and MQ, and, in effect, all core eliminating the need to move it business applications, structured and unstructured (repeatedly). data objects, and archived transactional logs. Its  Data security is assured by industry- implementation is supported by a range of com- leading encryption. prehensive of security solutions, including:  Analytical processing enjoys the same  IBM Security zSecure Suite resiliency as the core applications.  IBM Security QRadar  Through the use of open APIs, insights  IBM Security Guardium may be combined from any platform.  IBM Security Identity Governance  Productivity is enhanced greatly by  IBM Multi-factor Authentication leveraging existing personnel, processes, and infrastructure.  IBM Enterprise Key Management  Co-location of services and data ex- Driving Analytics and Machine ploits the superior I/O features of the Learning on IBM Z hardware and software to improve their The Clipper Group has strongly endorsed performance significantly. IBM Z’s predecessors as the platform of choice Beyond enterprise data scientists/analysts, these for analytic processing – using the mainframe as benefits also will accrue to DBAs, systems the system of insight in addition to its rolls as the administrators, system architects, and security system of record as well as the system of and compliance officers. engagement5. The essential arguments are: Machine Learning Holds the Keys to  That is where most of the enterprise Successful Analytics resides; IBM’s efforts to drive this hybrid transac-  It is more expensive6 and time- tional/analytical model are embodied in IBM consuming to move large data sets off Machine Learning for z/OS and IBM Open Data the mainframe, E-T-Ling, for analytical Analytics for z/OS, which are built on advanced processing with no promise of “better” developments of the Apache Spark architecture8. results; The z14 underpinning contributes 32TB memory, greater than three times the maximum in the z13. z14 provides enhancements to Single Instruction

5 For more details on this topic, see The Clipper Group Navigator entitled Why the IBM Mainframe is the Right Place 7 For instance, Apache Open Source Foundation, Linux Foun- for Enterprise Systems of Engagement and Insight, dated Feb- dation Hyperledger Project, and Swift for mobile apps. ruary 17, 2015, which is available at 8 See The Clipper Group Navigator entitled IBM z http://www.clipper.com/research/TCG2015002.pdf Systems Get a Big Charge Out of Spark Analytics, dated 6 Don’t forget to consider the costs of storing, backing up, and October 21, 2016, and available at securing the exported data. http://www.clipper.com/research/TCG2016009.pdf.

Exhibit 2 —IBM Machine Learning for z/OS IBM Machine Learning for z/OS Supports the full machine learning lifecycle

Manage models deployed across your enterprise from a single dashboard

Source: IBM

Multiple Data (SIMD), such as 32-bit floating performance application requirements. On the point (which is exploited through the math librar- horizon, a Statement of Direction (SOD) has ies), 50 new instructions optimized for Java, been issued for the Virtual IDAA (vIDAA). Look pause-less garbage collection, exclusively for more on this from IBM soon. implemented in the z14 chip through the Guard- IBM Machine Learning holds great promise ed Storage Facility (GSP, to reclaim memory to enable the creation and improvements to ana- from a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) thereby lytic models in less time, simplifying the creation enhancing scalability); and zHyperLink (which and model management processes, and facilitat- significantly speeds up Db2 for z/OS transaction ing easier integration with existing applications processing and active log throughput in concert and tools. (See Exhibit 2, above.) with IBM DS8880 System Storage). IBM Machine Learning for z/OS is being Open and Connected for the Modern enhanced by exploitation of Python, full life- Digital Enterprise cycle management of Predictive Model Markup Despite some commonly held prejudices in Language (PMML) models, and enhancements some sectors, IBM mainframes are a significant and integration of the IBM Data Science Experi- presence in many private and hybrid cloud- ence (DSX) toolset. IBM Open Data Analytics centric infrastructures. However, outside of IBM for z/OS features powerful Anaconda9 and mainframe circles, mainframes rarely are includ- Python enhancements to runtimes and libraries, ed in any discussions of cloud infrastructures. and improvements to data access. In addition, a The Clipper Group has argued for many years new version of the IBM Db2 Analytics Accelera- that the IBM mainframe is an ideal platform on tor (IDAA) will be available for very high which to base any cloud infrastructure.10 Fur- thermore, we also have argued that IBM mainframes were the first instance of cloud-based 9 Anaconda is a leading open data science platform powered by Python. For more information, please see infrastructure, built on its early and long history https://www.continuum.io/blog/company-blog/here-comes- data-science-all-right. 10 See footnote #5.

of storage protection and virtualization.11 CICS, MQ, WAS Liberty, and z/OS Connect. Today, emerging digital enterprises must be Furthermore, the Toolkit leverages IBM Cloud focused on openness, connectivity, agility, and Provisioning and Management and the z/OS ability to scale. So a valid question might be: Is Management Facility, which has RESTful, inter- the IBM Z relevant in light of these demands? faces to allow more automation and configuration Unequivocally, yes! software, console operations, job status and more. The z14 is Open for Business New pricing models allow clients to triple the size of the Dev/Test environments without any There are billions of lines of COBOL and increase in software monthly licenses (MLC) PL1 code accounting for more than 70% of charges. (See the details below.) today’s business transactions; it is incumbent that this investment must be leveraged and extended. IBM z14 – Meets all Scaling Challenges Discovery is done by IBM Application Discovery Imagine that your enterprise requirements and Delivery Intelligence (ADDI) to quickly indicate that there is a need for as many as two identify API candidates and quickly turn them million Docker containers. On what servers into services. Exposing services continues to be would you put them, how many servers would it accomplished by z/OS Connect Enterprise Edi- take, and how many new folks would be needed tion, the single place for providing access to to manage that cluster? IBM claims that one z14 existing applications and data with RESTful APIs can scale up to meet that goal with the commen- for all z/OS subsystems. z/OS Connect EE con- surate savings in resources, both infrastructure tinues to add new features as well as enhance- and staff. With a main memory of 32 TB, up to ments to the Eclipse-based12 UI called z/OS Con- 85 LPARs, a new generation of I/O channel nect EE Workstation Tools to facilitate the crea- hardware resulting in a three-time increase in tion, editing, and deployment of APIs. Each of small data transfer rate, and the ten-times lower these contributes to the reduction of application latency available through zHyperlink without the downtime and re-work. need to make changes to your Db2 applications, The z14 is Connects to the Cloud scalability is just not an issue anymore. Perfor- mance is supplemented further by the new IBM To connect out to services on the public Virtual Flash Memory, an enhanced replacement cloud, IBM has enhanced z/OS Connect EE to be of the PCIe Flash Express card. a standard access point for applications running on IBM Z. New tooling has been created to auto- Running the popular open systems generate the code needed by COBOL or PL/I MongoDB? Scale a single instance to 17 TB and programs to call APIs based on the popular achieve 2.4 times lower latency and higher OpenAPI standard, Swagger, through z/OS Con- throughput. Your “old code” also will benefit. nect EE from different subsystems. Architects Applications built with COBOL can achieve 80% can choose their favorite languages to build lower CPU usage without recompilation by microservices; over twenty and still counting, means of the Automatic Binary Optimizer for languages and data base technologies are availa- z/OS, a product within IBM’s development tool- ble for IBM Z. set. Responding to scaling requirements has been and always will be part and parcel of IBM main- The z14 is Agile frame design. Put simply, you need to do more stuff faster while minimizing cost impact. IBM continues to New Pricing Models Extend the focus on enabling its mainframe clients to lever- Flexibility of IBM Z age and extend existing investments while still IBM’s mainframe pricing model, based on responding to the demand for more and broader capacity-based monthly license charges, has been services. Not ignored are the new sources of data on obstacle for many enterprises and has un- that offer opportunities to enhance their respon- doubtedly contributed to driving mainframe siveness. The z/OS Provisioning Toolkit is used workloads to alternative platforms. The issue to quickly bring up and tear down instances of always has been how to isolate workloads that are being driven by new, emerging computing 11 See The Clipper Group Navigator entitled IBM domains from typically core enterprise applica- zEnterprise is Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, dated tions when the workloads share the same hard- April 8, 2014, which is available at www.clipper.com/research/TCG2014008.pdf. ware and software resources. Over the years, 12 Eclipse is an integrated development environment most IBM has mitigated these effects by offering flex- widely used by the Java IDE. ible, lower-cost models in support of new or

migrated workloads. Examples include zNALC, affecting the pricing of other workloads shar- IBM Collocated Application Pricing (ICAP), and ing the same software. Country Multiplex Pricing (CMP)13.  The Payments Pricing Solution offers a new With the announcement of the z14, IBM per payment (per transaction) pricing metric has introduced Container Pricing for IBM Z, for on-premises, z/OS-based Payments-as-a which provides co-located workloads with Service. It applies to both mainframe software “line-of-sight” pricing to a specific solution and software-plus-hardware variants. The workload. 14 How should “line-of-sight” be enterprise benefits from predictable and con- interpreted? Essentially, your current month’s sistent pricing regardless of peaks without transaction software workload billing will be affecting the pricing of other workloads on the based upon last month’s measured usage. There- system. Up-front licensing of IBM Financial fore, there are no surprises and there is no need to Transaction Manager (FTM) software, which sign up for capacity that may not be required. is required, is offered with the remainder of the Volumes are visible by looking back, hence payments software stack, e.g., z/OS, Db2, MQ, IBM’s use of the phrase “line-of-sight”. Con- ODM17, and, optionally, Cognos BI, being tainer Pricing for IBM Z’s revolutionary charged as MLC with a low-priced per- model greatly simplifies pricing for qualified payment business metric. The word is that solutions and offers much more flexibility for IBM is challenging any competition to match deployment options based on best technical fit the cost per transaction rates that IBM is will- and not pricing with the goal of offering much ing to offer. more competitive economics that are relevant Each of these solutions also promise lower to the solution.15 incremental rates as the volumes grow based on a Three solutions will be initially enabled with pre-determined step function – higher volumes Container Pricing: Application Development and will result in a lower average unit cost. In sup- Test Solution, New Application Solution, and the port of Container Pricing enhancements, includ- Payments Pricing Solution. ing Tenant Resource Groups and the Sub-  The AD&T solution offers highly competitive Capacity Report Tool (SCRT), will be available and flexible stand-alone pricing for z/OS Dev- by the end of the year for z/OS V2.2 and V2.3. Test workloads for both MLC and OTC soft- The introduction of Container Pricing for ware. Data centers can increase their existing IBM Z is truly innovative and simple to deploy DevTest capacity up to three-times at no addi- – systems administrators determine where to tional MLC cost. This offering will encourage deploy using WLM, then z/OS and SCRT do developers to do more extensive testing that the rest. This new pricing model is very is should result in higher quality and faster pro- likely to create a great deal of new interest and duction deployment. inertia for new or expanded mainframe work-  The New Application Solution offers highly loads, particularly for analytics, cloud integra- competitive stand-alone pricing for new16 z/OS tion through hybrid clouds, and the fostering workloads that are co-located with existing of the broad “securitization” of an enterprise’s mainframe applications at a highly competitive digital assets. It greatly simplifies software pric- stand-alone price. The client determines the ing, opens new options for flexible deployment, size of the container for the new application, drives the economics of IBM Z implementations which sets (and limits) the billing for all capac- to much more competitive levels, and facilitates ity-priced IBM software included but without better resource sharing. The structure and tone of this announcement strongly suggests that there 13 For more detail on the z13, see The Clipper Group will be more solutions to come that will follow Navigator entitled The IBM z Systems and the New this pricing philosophy.18 IBM z13 - Ready to Transform Your Enterprise, dated January 14, 2015, and available at http://www.clipper.com/research/TCG2015001.pdf. 14 Container Pricing also will also be available on the z13 running under the supported z/OS releases. 17 ODM – IBM Operational Decision Manager, a full-featured 15 For the cognoscenti, the effect of this offering means that platform for capturing, automating, and governing frequent, certain specific solutions are no longer bounded by existing repeatable business decisions. logical partition (LPAR) definitions. 18 Enterprises also can expect MLC software charges to be 16 IBM defines new as any ISV product, user-developed appli- reduced, usually in the range of 0% to 5% relative to the z13 cation, a port from a non-Z platform, or a “significantly mod- and depending on capacity, as a result of the z14 “tech divi- ernized” existing application. dend”.

Exhibit 3 — Comparing z14 to Its z13 and zEC12 Predecessors

Name z14 z13 zEC12 z14 z14 Type 3906 2964 2827 Compared Compared Models M01, M02, M03, N30, N63, N96, H20, H43, H66, to z13 to zEC12 M04, M05 NC9, NE1 H88, HA1 Chip Process (SOI) 14nm 22nm 32nm n/a n/a Cycle Rate (GHz) 5.2 5 5.5 104% 94% Entry MIPS 256 250 240 102% 106% Single CP MIPS - See Note (a) 1832 1695 1500 108% 122% Total CP MIPS 146,000 approx. 111,000 approx. 78,000 approx. 132% 185% Subcapacity Settings 99 (3 x 33 CPs) 90 (3 x 30 CPs) 60 (3 x 20 CPs) 111% 165% <= 23.9 kMIPS <= 21.1 kMIPS <= 13.7 kMIPS Drawers 1 to 4 1 to 4 n/a n/a n/a Books (MCMs) n/a n/a 1 to 4 n/a n/a Chips / Drawer - See Note (b) 8 PU + 2 SC 6 PU + 2 SC n/a n/a n/a Chips / MCM n/a n/a 6 n/a n/a Cores / Chip 10 8 6 125% 167% Total Active Cores 196 168 120 117% 163% User Configurable Cores 170 141 101 120% 168% Other (SAP, Spare, Reserved) 26 27 19 96% 137% L2 Cache / Core (MBs) 6 4 2 150% 300% L3 Cache / Chip (MBs) 128 64 48 200% 267% L4 Cache / Drawer [MCM] (MBs) 692 - 960 384 72% 180% See Note (c) Entry Main Memory (GBs) 256 (RAIM) 64 (RAIM) 32 (RAIM) 400% 800% Maximum Main Memory (TBs) - 32 (RAIM) 10 (RAIM) 3 (RAIM) 320% 1067% See Note (d) LPARS maximum 85 85 60 100% 142% z/OS CP Image Maximum 170 141 101 120% 168% Footprint /Power Envelope Same as zEC12 Same as zEC12 Baseline Same Same approximately - approximately - See Note (e) See Note (e) Upgrades To n/a z14 z13 and z14 n/a n/a

Core Configurations: All models can include CP, ICF, IFL, zAAP, zIIP, and additional SAP (optional); zAAPs are not available for z14 and z13; zAAPs carried forward from zEC12 are converted to zIIPs.

Notes: (a) CP = Core configured for z Systems architecture. (b) z14 processor chip uses Single Chip Module (SCM) carriers. (c) Latency improvements in Storage Controller (SC) result in lower L4 cache required. (d) Dependent on model. (e) Some cooling and cabling options can extend dimensions to a small degree. Sources: IBM, with some computations by The Clipper Group

Comparing the z14 to Prior processing system and data repository – the Generations systems of record.20 For the record, Exhibit 3 on the previous What IBM is demonstrating with the page is a brief comparison of some of the salient announcement of the z14 and its new pricing hardware differences in IBM Z technologies over model options is support for a more convinc- the last two generations.19 IBM’s mainframes ing case that it is more than capable of hosting still hold the record for the fastest cycle time for workloads that may have defaulted to distrib- general-purpose system cores, 5.2 GHz, which is uted platforms and upping the ante with new enabled through new 14nm Silicon-on-Insulator and innovative pricing models. This is particu- (SOI) technology, with each chip containing 6.1 larly true for those applications and application billion transistors, 150% more than its predeces- data that demand the highest level of security and sor does. As has been true for several genera- access control. tions, the chip includes both compression and With its new capabilities cryptographic co-processors thus enabling their and improved economics, the high performance. IBM z14 announcement should The z14’s overall system capacity increases be considered a reset to the by over 30%. Memory is dramatically increased baseline of all existing and to 32TB, as is the local cache; this results in the future infrastructure decisions. reduced need to access data off the chip. Users Ignoring it may expose you to now have access to 170 cores for configuring a high opportunity cost and lost according to their needs. The IBM z14 10-core business advantages. SM processor chip leads the industry in high performance technology, innovative design, and integration, and provides the flexibility to do a wide variety of computing requirements that are demanded in modern enterprises. Conclusion Should IBM claim that the announcement of the z14 is revolutionary? Some elements of the hardware are surprising in their magnitude: the 32 TB memory, the much higher I/O bandwidth, and Crypto Coprocessor performance that allows everything to be encrypted; others, such as core count and overall MIPS capacity, are progressive. Clearly, the “Big Bang” is the Container Pric- ing Model, even in its earlier stage here, is al- most certainly going to result in turning the economics of platform choice upside down. IBM has invested where it was needed to scale up to better support the diverse requirements of in-situ analytics, hybrid cloud infrastructures, and rigorous protection of all enterprise data. The history of the IBM mainframe and its acceptance by so many enterprises demonstrates that it is the ultimate platform of secure, efficient, and cost-effective transaction

19 For more information, see The Clipper Group Navigator entitled The IBM zEnterprise EC12 – Bigger, Better, Faster, dated August 28, 2012, and available at http://www.clipper.com/research/TCG2012019.pdf and see 20 For more on the mainframe’s rich history, see fellow analyst The Clipper Group Navigator entitled The IBM z Systems Mike Kahn’s commentary on the many generations of IBM and the New IBM z13 - Ready to Transform Your Enterprise, mainframes entitled Riding the Dinosaur for 51 Years in dated January 14, 2015, and available at , also published today and availa- http://www.clipper.com/research/TCG2015001.pdf. ble at http://www.clipper.com/research/TCG2015001.pdf.

About The Clipper Group, Inc. The Clipper Group, Inc., now in its twenty-fifth year, is an independent publishing and consulting firm specializing in acquisition decisions and strategic advice regarding complex, enterprise-class information technologies. Our team of industry professionals averages more than 50 years of real-world experience. A team of staff consultants augments our capabilities, with significant experience across a broad spectrum of applications and environments.  The Clipper Group can be reached at 781-235-0085 and found on the web at www.clipper.com. About the Author Stephen D. (Steve) Bartlett is a Senior Contributing Analyst for The Clipper Group. Mr. Bartlett's interests include enterprise solutions including servers, system software, middleware, their underlying technologies, and their optimal deployment for responsiveness to emerging business requirements. In 2010, he joined the Clipper team after over 42 years with the IBM Corporation as an account and program manager in large system sales, product development, strategy, marketing, market research, and finance. During that time, he received several awards for his contributions in innovative market research and contributions to the business. He has a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an M.S. from Union College.  Reach Steve Bartlett via e-mail at [email protected] or at 845-452-4111. Regarding Trademarks and Service Marks , , , , , , The Clipper Group Calculator, and “clipper.com” are trademarks of The Clipper Group, Inc., and the clipper ship drawings, “Navigating Information Technology Horizons”, and “teraproductivity” are service marks of The Clipper Group, Inc. The Clipper Group, Inc., reserves all rights regarding its trademarks and service marks. All other trademarks, etc., belong to their respective owners. Disclosures Officers and/or employees of The Clipper Group may own as individuals, directly or indirectly, shares in one or more companies discussed in this bulletin. Company policy pro- hibits any officer or employee from holding more than one percent of the outstanding shares of any company covered by The Clipper Group. The Clipper Group, Inc., has no such equity holdings. After publication of a bulletin on clipper.com, The Clipper Group offers all vendors and users the opportunity to license its publications for a fee, since linking to Clipper’s web pages, posting of Clipper documents on other’s websites, and printing of hard-copy reprints is not allowed without payment of related fee(s). Less than half of our publications are licensed in this way. In addition, analysts regularly receive briefings from many vendors. Occasionally, Clipper analysts’ travel and/or lodging expenses and/or conference fees have been subsidized by a vendor, in order to participate in briefings. The Clipper Group does not charge any professional fees to participate in these information-gathering events. In addition, some vendors sometime provide binders, USB drives containing presentations, and other conference-related paraphernalia to Clipper’s analysts. Regarding the Information in this Issue The Clipper Group believes the information included in this report to be accurate. Data has been received from a variety of sources, which we believe to be reliable, including manu- facturers, distributors, or users of the products discussed herein. The Clipper Group, Inc., cannot be held responsible for any consequential damages resulting from the application of information or opinions contained in this report.