Wal-Mart Moves to IBM Mainframe System

IBM Corp. is expected to announce today that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. consolidated all of its computer systems for buying and replenishing goods on IBM mainframes and data-storage servers.

The retailing giant bought an undisclosed number of mainframes and storage servers from the No. 1 computer maker in the year’s first half and removed some older IBM units and competing devices, including those of EMC Corp. Wal-Mart wouldn’t give the cost.

IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y., is likely to cite Wal-Mart’s decision as it seeks customers for the z900 mainframe and Shark storage servers. Wal-Mart is viewed as particularly “tech savvy” and sees computer automation as a way to gain a competitive edge, said Jeff Roster, a retail analyst with Gartner Inc.

Wal-Mart is “very focused on operational efficiency,” said Randy Covill, a retail analyst with AMR Research Inc. With the economic slowdown, many retailers are focused on cutting costs rather than boosting sales, he said.

Mainframes, known for their reliability, are the fastest corporate computers apart from supercomputers.