IBM unveils servers targeting eCommerce, mobile app economy

Tech giant IBM today unveiled the z13 mainframe servers, which will provide real-time encryption on all mobile transactions, targeting eCommerce and mCommerce firms in India. z13 is the first system able to process 2.5 billion transactions a day.

Its transactions are persistent, protected and auditable from end-to-end, IBM said in a statement. “z13 system culminates a USD 1 billion investment, five years of development, exploits innovation of more than 500 new patents and represents a collaboration with over 60 clients underscoring IBM’s singular commitment to providing higher value, innovative technologies to clients,” it added.

Explaining the rationale behind the creation of z13, IBM said as mobile adoption grows, consumers are driving exponentially larger numbers of mobile transactions.

Each of these transactions triggers a cascade of events across computing systems. These events include comparisons to past purchases, data encryption and decryption, bank-to-bank reconciliations and customer loyalty discounts, it added.

The firm said this cascade of events causes a so-called ‘starburst effect’, where a single transaction can trigger as few as four or as many as 100 additional system interactions. Consequently, starburst effect can create security issues at each interaction point.

“With data and transactions under constant threat from multiple points of attack, consumers want to know that their mobile transactions are as secure as financial data held by banks,” IBM said. Combined with IBM MobileFirst solutions, the z13 delivers enhanced performance, availability, analytics and security that will drive optimal mobile user experiences.

“In a booming market like India where businesses need immediacy and security, there was a need of a comprehensive computing infrastructure for the mobile generation and the new app economy which could redefine digital business,” IBM

India Country Leader Server Solutions (Power and Mainframe) Viswanath Ramaswamy said. Every time a consumer makes a purchase or hits refresh on a smartphone, it can create a cascade of events on the back end of the computing environment. Consumers expect fast, easy and secure mobile transactions.

The implication for business is the creation of a secure, high performance infrastructure with sophisticated analytics, he added. “The z13 is designed to handle billions of transactions for the mobile economy. Only the IBM mainframe can put the power of the world’s most secure data centres in the palm of your hand,” Ramaswamy said.