As the technology world waits to see what will become of Sun’s hardware business in the wake of Oracle’s acquisition, IBM is going on the offensive with a program to woo Sun server customers to its side.
Last week, Big Blue doubled its incentives under its Power Rewards migration program. IBM is offering customers $8,000 worth of software or services for every Sun SPARC processor they set aside for an IBM Power server through June 30. IBM was offering $4,000 per processor before Oracle announced the Sun acquisition.
IBM said the value of Power Rewards can lead to a significant reduction in migration costs. As an example, IBM offered a scenario in which a client who moves the workload from a 64-core Hewlett-Packard 9000 Superdome could earn 256,000 points. Those points can be redeemed for 680 hours of migration services.
Examining the Oracle Effect
IBM wasn’t immediately available for comment, but industry analysts said the doubled incentive could be a reaction to the Oracle acquisition. Big Blue could be tapping into the uncertainty Sun customers have about what Oracle will do with Sun’s hardware business.
“Rumors are rife about what Oracle is planning to do with Sun’s assets after the acquisition is completed,” said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT. “Rumors are running around everything from Sun being operated as a relatively independent entity within Oracle to Oracle spinning off or outright selling bits and pieces of Sun’s hardware assets to interested buyers.”
Until Oracle clarifies its intentions, it’s open season on Sun, King said, and no matter what Oracle decides, it’s likely that Sun customers are going to face some significant changes. That said, IBM’s move to double its incentives could be a play to continue the momentum it announced in April.
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