1

Are servers important

to help you move to the

3rd Platform of computing?

Highlights for the IDC Technology Spotlight report:

Next-Gen Servers: Helping Enterprises

Embrace the 3rd Platform of Computing

2

The 3rd Platform is IDC's term for the

foundational technologies of cloud, mobile,

social, and big data. These technologies are

combining to transform business and the

economy. The 3rd Platform is the next

evolution of IT, surpassing the 2nd Platform of

the Internet and client-server computing and

the 1st Platform of mainframe computing.

Source: IDC, 2016

3

IDC’s 3rd Platform

• Today, the 3rd Platform is already the new core

of IT market growth. Over 100% of IT

spending growth, and virtually ALL of

enterprises’ strategic new Digital

Transformation initiatives, are being built on

3rd Platform technologies and solutions

• IDC believes that by the end of 2017, two-

thirds of the CEOs of Global 2000 enterprises

will have digital transformation at the center of

their corporate strategy

• By 2017, over 50% of organizations' IT

spending will be for 3rd Platform technologies,

solutions, and services - rising to over 60% by

2020

Source: IDC FutureScape: “Worldwide IT Industry 2016 Predictions — Leading Digital

Transformation to Scale”, Document # 259850, November 2015

4 2016 Lenovo Internal. All rights reserved.

Industry trends are defining

the new datacenter.

Is it just a buzzword?

Does it provide real

business benefits?

3rd Platform

based datacenter

New Model Benefits • Optimize utilization rates

• Reduce capital spending

• Improve IT staff

productivity

Business Value &

Competitive

Differentiation

3rd platform initiatives will

constitute a growing majority

of IT investments

5

Business Initiatives Driving IT Investments

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Improve customer acquisition and retention

Increase organization's agility

Introduce new products and services

Increase organization's revenue

Improve organization's business processes

Reduce organization's costs

Increase organization's productivity

(%)

Source: IDC, 2016

6

“IT staff has little time for innovation”

• 80% of IT staff time = “keeping the lights on”.

• Users demand continuous and reliable access to apps and data

Time and resources

spent “keeping the

lights on”

Resource allocation

to new business

apps and services

Flat Budgets

Source: IDC, 2016

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How can IT infrastructure help balance the equation?

Performance

Reliability

IT Staff Productivity

Companies demand high-

performing IT infrastructure

to manage ever-growing

volumes of data and turn it

to real-time business

insights.

Businesses expect their

applications and supporting

infrastructure to be available 24

by 7. Moreover, they cannot

afford the increasingly high cost

of downtime.

To succeed in the next era,

customers need to simplify

IT operations: reduce

operating expenses,

optimize current

infrastructure, and ultimately

increase staff efficiency.

Source: IDC, 2016

8

The right IT data center infrastructure helps IT staff

focus on business-critical initiatives

IDC Technology Spotlight report: Next-Gen Servers: Helping

Enterprises Embrace the 3rd Platform of Computing

“Keeping the lights on” New business

apps and services

“Critical to the success of this 3rd Platform transition is reliable,

predictable, and high-performing server and software infrastructure”

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“Lenovo has refocused its range of

servers, software solutions, storage and

infrastructure products and services to

meet the needs of enterprise digital

transformation and evolution to the 3rd

Platform of computing”.

IDC Technology Spotlight report: Next-Gen Servers:

Helping Enterprises Embrace the 3rd Platform of

Computing

10

Portfolio investments for 3rd Platform

New & Enhanced Servers Solutions

• Lenovo Cloud Reference

Architecture for VMware Software

Defined Datacenter

• Lenovo Cloud Reference

Architecture for Red Hat

Enterprise

• System x3250 M6

• System x3650 M5

• System x3550 M5

• ThinkServer RD650

• ThinkServer RD550

• ThinkServer RD450

• ThinkServer RD350

• ThinkServer TD350

• NeXtScale nx360 M5

• Flex x240 M5

Management

• Lenovo XClarity Mobile

• Lenovo XClarity Integrators

• Lenovo XClarity Energy Manager

Ultra-dense systems for software defined,

hyperconverged and cloud workloads.

Small and Medium Business workloads.

Balanced Performance and Reliability

Mainstream rack servers for virtualization and

LOB applications

Optimized for growing businesses. Large

storage, high availability features.

Integrated blades for wide range workloads.

VDI, database.

HPC and Cloud optimized.

Solutions to optimize IT resources

IT staff efficiency with advanced systems

management

Open approach to partnerships

Backed with Lenovo’s global support and

services

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“Lenovo systems are well positioned to help customers achieve

their business goals while moving to the 3rd Platform”

• 44% greater processing

speed

• 12% faster memory access

• 23% faster Hadoop

performance for faster

intake of large volumes of

data and real-time business

insights.

#1 in Reliability according to ITIC

Trusted Platform Assurance

protects hardware and firmware

• Easy provisioning: XClarity

• Simplify with hyperconvergence.

HX SeriesNutanix appliances

• Reference architectures

• Energy efficiency

Accelerate

Performance

Increase

Reliability

Improve

IT Staff Productivity

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Implementing 3rd Platform technologies?

• Consider reliable, secure infrastructure, and software

based on open standards.

• Investments on IT professional services should take

into account:

• Do not play catch-up with competitors.

• Invest where IT efficiencies can be gained to allow

investment in new projects.

• Balance organizational power of IT and LOB, for long

term organization agreements.

• Focus on business process improvement.

IDC recommends:

IDC Technology Spotlight report: Next-Gen Servers: Helping

Enterprises Embrace the 3rd Platform of Computing

13

“Lenovo’s portfolio of

hardware and software

offerings should be a

serious consideration of any

enterprise undergoing digital

transformation”.

IDC Technology Spotlight report: Next-Gen Servers:

Helping Enterprises Embrace the 3rd Platform of

Computing

Download

the IDC Spotlight report

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