IBM Unveils Its New ‘E-Business’ Product Lineup
IBM is the latest computer company to launch “e-business” products that help small firms conduct business on the Internet.
The new line that IBM debuted last week essentially consists of industry-standard servers, desktop and notebook PCs, and hand-held personal organizers.
The company is marketing these products as custom-designed to enable small businesses to conduct “e-business,” an industry buzzword for use of the Web to sell or market products. But calling these machines electronic commerce systems is a little like a car company adding some optional equipment to a standard model and calling it a “small-business fleet vehicle.” Of course, IBM’s new machines can get your business on the Internet. But with the right software and equipment, so can most other PCs.
To be fair, some of the products in IBM’s new line are innovative and aggressively priced and are worth looking at if your company is in the market for new computer equipment. Its new IBM PC 300 PL workstation, for example, includes the new “wake on LAN” technology that allows network administrators to remotely turn on a user’s machine to perform maintenance. The same technology, which Intel markets as “alert on LAN,” will also be available from Acer, Gateway 2000 and other PC makers.
IBM’s big news is its new Netfinity 3000 server, which the company bills as “your first step into network computing and e-business.” From what I can determine, it is, indeed, an excellent Internet and local area network server for small businesses. But there is nothing revolutionary about its design. A server is basically a PC with an ethernet card and the necessary software to manage a network.
Wally Casey, an IBM vice president, told me that these machines are priced well below the competition.
“A lot of people think of IBM as the high-priced alternative, but we now are extraordinarily cost-competitive,” he said.
Prices for a unit with a 266 MHz Pentium II start at a seductive $1,765, but if you want a unit with a hard drive you’ll pay at least $2,339, and that doesn’t include the cost of the required operating system.
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Unlike desktop PCs, servers typically don’t come with an operating system. You have to pay an extra $700 or more for Windows NT, Novel NetWare, OS/2 or SCO Unix. A 10-user starter version of IBM’s own OS/2 server software costs $899. You’ll probably want to upgrade to 64-MB memory.
Add it all up and your basic system server starts at about $3,400, not including the cost of cables, workstations and, of course, installation. That’s competitive but by no means extraordinary.
Casey points out that the new IBM servers come with the Domino Intranet Starter Pack from Lotus, an IBM subsidiary. That software, which has a retail price of $1,695, lets users create an intranet (internal “Internet”) to share information among employees and has features that let you track projects, contacts, orders and documents. Bundling this software in a $1,765 machine does sound like a great deal, but many of its features are also available in competing products, including Microsoft’s BackOffice small-business server, which is included in the price of some PC companies’ servers.
To connect any server to the Internet, you still need a modem or, if you want a high-speed connection, a router or ISDN adapter that is sometimes available from Internet service providers. You’ll also need a hub, which acts as a junction box between the server and your PCs or workstations.
IBM may sell pretty good e-business equipment, but it could use some help with the way it conducts its own e-business. I wanted to find out how much it would cost for a complete IBM system with all the necessary hardware and software, but using the IBM Web site to figure this out was a nightmare. Two days after the announcement, the “shop IBM” section of the Web site didn’t even include information about the new products. Even with the older server products, it was impossible for me to find out the cost of necessary accessories such as a hub, routers and other equipment.
Getting the information by phone was equally frustrating. To begin with, IBM doesn’t prominently list a sales phone number at its Web site, but by hunting I was able to locate the U.S. contact number. The operator couldn’t direct me to one salesperson who could answer all my questions, but shuttled me around to a variety of “teams.” When I finally reached the “networking team,” the person didn’t know about the new Netfinity systems but did tell me that hubs started at $899. That seemed awfully high to me, so he looked up the specifications and told me that was for a 16-port hub.
“Don’t you have anything cheaper?” I asked, and he later came back with an eight-port hub for $299. He didn’t know anything about software. Another IBM representative told me about IBM’s OS/2 server software, but he had no information about Windows NT or any other server software.
I called Gateway to inquire about their server equipment and, within less than two minutes, was told that they offer an eight-port hub for $69. I searched for hubs on Dell’s Web site and, within minutes, found descriptions and prices for a variety of networking hubs, starting with a four-port model for $49. Dell even sells an IBM eight-port hub for $219--$80 cheaper than the one offered to me by IBM’s own sales representative.
When I told my tale of frustration to IBM spokesman Paul Herron, he said the company is “working around the clock” to improve its Web site. By the time you read this, they plan to address some of these issues. Herron also gave me a special number, (800) 426-7255, to reach an IBM representative who is knowledgeable about small-business products.
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After more Web searching, I also discovered IBM’s Small Business Center Web page, https://www.businesscenter.ibm.com, which does give a contact number for a small-business specialist: (888) 426-5800. Even the people at this number didn’t have details about the equipment, but at least they knew it existed.
Assuming you can find someone to sell you these products, you still have plenty to do before you can start using them to make money on the Internet. You’ll need to find an Internet service provider, design your Web pages, go through the process of setting up an online catalog and make arrangements with your bank to accept online credit-card payments. IBM, like most Internet service providers, offers an Internet hosting service, which can help you with some of these issues.
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You can e-mail Lawrence J. Magid at magid@latimes.com and visit his Web site at https://www.larrysworld.com. On AOL use keyword LarryMagid.
