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Warp Server Excels in Cost of Ownership,Speed and Ease of Use

Business Research Group Compares Long-Term PC LAN Administration Costs
Among The Top Three Network Operating Systems

AUSTIN, Texas, June 24, 1996. . .In a Business Research Group (BRG)
comparison of network operating systems (NOSes), IBM's OS/2* Warp
Server outperformed both Microsoft Windows** NT Server and Novell
NetWare*** in tasks that are instrumental to managing the network.
The information was reported in a BRG market research study that
addressed the cost of ownership among the three major NOSes. In
addition, Warp Server had the lowest average cost of labor at large
LAN sites, which includes cost per server and cost per end node. BRG
is headquartered in Newton, Mass.

"We are pleased with the results of this study and believe it
confirms that Warp Server is the right product for both the large
enterprise customer and small businesses. An IT administrator's
biggest concern can be the total cost of ownership when evaluating
network operating systems," said Art Olbert, vice president of server
products for IBM Personal Software Products. "Ease of use and time
required to perform specific tasks are critical factors that can
greatly affect the long-term cost of an operating system, and Warp
Server out performs other network operating systems in these critical
areas. It gives IT administrators true value with strong performance
at a lower purchase price -- and that results in lower long-term cost
of ownership."

The Results Speak For Themselves When It Come to Speed and Ease of Use

The results of the BRG study, PC LAN Administration:

A Comparative Analysis of Three Leading Network Operating Systems,
show that Warp Server, which was in late stages of beta testing at
the time, compared very favorably with each of the two other
operating systems. LAN administrators consistently reported Warp
Server taking the least time to perform the majority of the tasks.
At both small (less than 100 nodes) and large (more than 100 nodes)
LAN sites, Warp Server received the fastest average times in terms of
performing tasks. At small LAN sites, Warp Server recorded the
fastest average time for seven of the 10 task categories in areas
such as define a new user, define resource access, check disk space
on a server and others. At large LAN sites, Warp Server also
excelled coming out ahead in six of 10 categories such as performing
a client software upgrade.

Warp Server was rated easiest to use in nine out of 10 task
categories at small LAN sites. LAN administrators agree that ease of
use is a critical concern in a NOS environment, and these findings at
the small LAN sites were consistent across all three network
operating systems.

Save Time and You'll Save Money

In the study, BRG used personnel-related costs as a basis for
comparison in understanding the full lifecycle costs of managing PC
LANs. "Perhaps the single largest factor associated with owning,
operating, and maintaining PC LANs is the ongoing personnel costs
associated with managing such systems," said Cheryl Ball, director of
client/server computing, BRG. "The market research, sponsored by
IBM, has shown that OS/2 Warp Server provides industry leading cost
of ownership values in both small and large LAN environments."

Warp Server comes out on top in small LAN sites when costs are
calculated on a per server basis, with a 22 percent savings over NT
and a 41 percent savings over NetWare. At large LAN sites, Warp
Server is a clear winner with an average cost of $53 per end node.
It outperforms both NT and NetWare with a 132 percent and 281 percent
savings respectively. In the server arena, Warp Server again leads
the pack with with cost savings of 13 percent over NT and 35 percent
over NetWare.

The Report

BRG research has shown that 85 percent of IT professionals agree that
cost of ownership is a critical concern when acquiring network
operating systems. This report examines the key factors that
determine cost of ownership. The study included 240 telephone
interviews divided equally among small LAN sites and large LAN sites
in the United States with qualified LAN administrators who had a
direct knowledge and first-hand experience administering Warp Server
(beta version), Windows NT (3.5 or higher) or NetWare (4.X).  Some of
the issues respondents were asked about included total number of LAN
administrators supporting a given NOS, number of servers, number of
desktop nodes, number of remote sites connected to LAN, and the
percentage of overall time spent performing common LAN administration
costs.  The data gathered formed the basis for calculating long-term
LAN administration costs shown in the report.

OS/2 Warp Server:  The Complete Business Solution

OS/2 Warp Server is IBM's business server solution for customers
ranging from small businesses to large enterprises. It provides a
foundation for application serving and file and print sharing, plus a
wealth of integrated features including system management, backup and
recovery, remote access, enhanced TCP/IP support, advanced print
function and LAN Internet access.

* OS/2 is a registered trademark of IBM Corp.
** Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
*** NetWare is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc.

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