IBM Cisco forge common goal

IBM and Cisco last week fleshed out their ongoing technology alliance to help network managers to deploy highly scalable e-commerce infrastructures.

Using IBM S/390 servers, IBM host integration software and Cisco's network systems, the companies said they will develop e-business solutions to support the growth of high-volume internet transactions.

They also plan to identify other standards-based technologies that can be used to more tightly integrate S/390 with Cisco's IP infrastructures.

In the first example of integration, IBM said that it will combine its S/390 traffic prioritisation function with Cisco's priority enforcement within the IP network, to help users achieve more predictable response times for delivery of e-business applications.

Mark Lillycrop, director of research at analyst Xephon, said all vendors are aiming to develop more powerful e-commerce systems, but IBM and Cisco are offering the most powerful solution at present.

"Cisco and IBM share common goals and their technologies fit well together," Lillycrop said.

The alliance will also combine S/390 Parallel Sysplex clustering technology with Cisco intelligent workload balancing to provide highly available and scalable systems.

"This allows the server, applications and network to behave as a single e-business system," said Ross Mauri, vice president of IBM's S/390 division.

"Requests will travel through available parts of the network and only be dispatched in the S/390 server."

As part of the announcement, IBM Global Services will also enhance its portfolio of Networking Service offerings to assist customers in the deployment of IBM/Cisco solutions.

The announcement is the first between the two since they forged a $2bn (£1.21bn) agreement last August, which saw IBM sell its Ethernet router and switch technology to Cisco.