With an above-average successful business year for BS2000, the innovation roadmap has been clearly set out for the coming years and agreed with customer in the framework of a three-year plan.
"The recently announced BS2000 strategy meets the requirements of BS2000 users as voiced in many discussions in the context of the SAVE working group," comments Horst Rittenbruch, spokesman for the executive committee of the Siemens users' association SAVE. "In addition, SAVE conducts a strategy discussion each year with the development departments devoted to the further development of hardware and software for the next two to three years. Customer requirements are discussed, priorities are set and deadlines defined. This has created a solid basis of confidence and provides continuous re-affirmation of the users' system decisions."
The customer shipment of the new operating system version, BS2000/OSD V4.0 with improved high performance and high availibiliy functions has already started. The next milestone on the BS2000 roadmap is expected at the end of 1999 with the presentation of a new mainframe in the absolute high-end sector.
Strategic importance of mainframes
BS2000 business is being strengthened still further within the framework of the new company. On the basis of the worldwide collaboration between Siemens and Fujitsu in the IT sector, the necessary worldwide sales and service support can be offered to all European companies active in global markets. This is a decisive advantage and an indispensable driver for the success of the BS2000 business.
"The success of our BS2000 mainframes is no accident", said Robert Hoog, President Fujitsu Siemens Computers. "Following record shipments in the last but one fiscal year we were again able to deliver more than 25 percent more BS2000 computing power to our customers in the 1998/1999 business year just passed. We will continue to accelerate the BS2000 development as a pivotal part of our server offering."
Market leadership for mainframes in Germany further increased - No. 2 in Europe
Last year, according to IDC (6.99), Siemens overtook IBM with its BS2000 to take the number one mainframe position (Revenue) in Germany for the first time. According to the most recent figures from IDC (9.99), this trend has further intensified in the first six months of 1999: With a market share of more than 45 %, the company's market leadership has been further enhanced. BS2000 also pushed strongly ahead in Western Europe and notched up No. 2 position, well clear of the field. BS2000 has therefore been able to profit most in the mainframe market from the current megatrend towards server consolidation and IT recentralization.
Success factors
The BS2000/OSD servers are proven and innovative systems which are ideal for meeting the needs of corporate IT solutions. The reasons for their success include the large performance bandwidth, continuous system innovation (e.g. Web support, high availability, standard processor technology) and above all the high level of expertise offered by Fujitsu Siemens Computers in terms of system software, as ever a vital prerequisite for success.
Performance bandwidth for meeting the needs of data centers
BS2000 systems traditionally encompass a large performance bandwidth (currently five to over 1000RPF*) and therefore allow all customers virtually unlimited performance growth without having to change systems. The BS2000 central units for the upper performance range have been coming from Fujitsu for over 20 years, each containing the world's most powerful /390 processors. Because of their high reliability, these systems have earned an excellent reputation in the field. The current flagship, the S160 Business Server, stands out not only because of its world class performance figures but more especially by virtue of its excellent cost-effectiveness. With the very successful BS2000 system line SR2000, Siemens has been first in providing a mainframe system based on inexpensive standard microprocessors that fully meets the needs of smaller and medium-sized users in terms of functionality, reliability and capital investment.
First dedicated database server in the world for R/3: Customer installations started Mainframes are known as universal servers that can meet the requirements of Enterprise Computing. What is new to the market is the approach adopted by Fujitsu Siemens Computers, to make the convincing system features applicable also for dedicated application areas. With the DS2000 Enterprise Data Server, Siemens is the world's first supplier to offer a dedicated database server for the R/3 market with mainframe functionality and availability. DS2000 offers the advantages of the standard ERP software SAP R/3, the Oracle database system and the Symmetrix disk subsystem of EMC¾ combined with the strengths of a mainframe in terms of security, high availability and data center automation. The first models of this database server are now being installed at customers' premises.
* Fujitsu Siemens Computers indicates the performance of its mainframes as a Relative Performance Factor RPF, where one RPF corresponds to some 1.3 to 1.5 MIPS.
Continuous innovations
Over the years, BS2000 has time and again demonstrated its innovative and future-proof qualities. The suffix Open Server Dimension (OSD) refers to the openness of the mainframe operating system of Fujitsu Siemens Computers. As BS2000 provides the full Unix95 functionality of X/Open, applications can be easily ported from Unix to BS2000. The Internet Server Branding of the Open Group certifies BS2000 as the first operating system worldwide to provide all the basic services for Internet applications in compliance with the relevant standards. Using the BS2000 environment for Java, Java programs created on any platforms can be run on BS2000/OSD.
"The mainframe business with BS2000/OSD will also be a core area of the Enterprise Business for Fujitsu Siemens Computers, a business from which we expect further market success, particularly in Europe," adds Winfried Hoffmann, Co-President Fujitsu Siemens Computers.
