IBM acquisition of Transitive

Comments on 'IBM acquisition of Transitive'

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  Some people are speculating that IBM is contemplating another processor transition and perhaps is considering packing it in with the PowerPC. Here's a decent blog on that theory from Chuck Hollis:
  http://chucksblog.emc.com/chucks_blog/2008/11/the-speculation-game-ibm-buys-transitive.html
  
  This would allow IBM to more seamlessly make that transition for sure. It would be consistent with a continued and prolonged move away from vertical integration for IBM which has become a software and services company.
  
  It just makes sense for IBM services to have a capability to more seamlessly provide runtime environments across processor families. It makes IBM more competitive in the migration business and allows IBM services to slot in its own systems when the customer doesn't care which vendor's hardware is running.
  
  Good move by IBM IMO.

  
  

  Posted By:David Vellante| Sat Nov 22, 2008 07:52

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  Transitive have three QuickTransit technologies that assist moving from Sun SPARC technologies to Intel. The method is dynamic translation, with claims of up to 80% efficiency. For workstations and PCs this approach is fine - if something goes wrong, the user sorts it out, and runs it again. The workstation transit tools, the PowerPC to Apple tools can work OK.
  
  Server migration is different. There have been many other technologies introduced for rapidly moving applications from one server platform to another. Most have founded on the same problem, dealing with hardware or software errors. Errors that previously would be recovered now crash the system. Test and rewriting operating procedures can become problematical. Performance can matter more.
  
  Transative acknowledge this difficultly with the following caveat on its website: "QuickTransit Server is therefore a convenient solution for customers intending to run a wide range of internally-developed, open source or commercially-available applications that are reasonably well-documented and install in a standardized fashion" In other words, it helps the applications that need the least help.
  
  Can some server applications be helped by the Transitive technologies? Sure, maybe many can.
  
  Can all applications be helped? Very probably not.
  
  There is one key principle of server architectures and operating systems - you can design many operating systems to run on a specific server architecture. History is littered with claims to be able to run an operating system on multiple server architectures. Nobody has succeeded. The reference architecture is the only one that succeeds.
  
  IBM, with many server architectures, has failed spectacularly when it tried to develop a single operating system that would run on them all; remember Pink?
  
  So what are the ways that IBM benefits from buying Transitive? "Let me count the ways":-
  1/ IBM has forgotten corporate history and thinks that Transitive is an alchemist - unlikely
  2/ IBM want to go after Sun; buying the technology makes it harder for competitors, and provides a good migration tool for some SPARC applications - very likely (could help IBM services in particular could drive repeat engagements and increase profitability)
  3/ IBM can use the Transitive technology in general to help migrate an operating system from one platform to another (e.g., move from Power to Intel) - maybe it could help at bit at the edges, but the hard work would be rewriting AIX to run efficiently and reliably on the new platform.
  
  Bottom line: Good technology with limited value - IBM should only pay a bargain basement price.

  
  

  Posted By:David Floyer| Sun Nov 23, 2008 03:27

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