Nortel Networks Corp. and IBM Corp. announced a joint package of products and services Monday at SuperComm in Atlanta. Network Solutions for eBusiness is its name, increasing e-commerce and service provider profits is its game.
The package weaves IBM’s eBusiness infrastructure products and systems with Nortel Networks’ 40G- bps (bits per second) Optical Internet and 1G-bps Optical Ethernet hardware to provide a united IP (Internet Protocol) networking infrastructure, according to an announcement from the companies.
IBM’s server capacity and Nortel’s high-speed infrastructure will combine to provide small businesses and large service providers a detour around the bandwidth bottleneck that slows down metro area networking, said Peter Evans, vice-president of marketing for Nortel Networks’ metro optical division.
Network Solutions for eBusiness is comprised of Nortel Networks’ OPTera Packet Edge system, OPTera Metro 3500 Multiservice Platform, OPTera 5200, Alteon Websystems Inc.’s 780 Web switch, and Shasta Networks Inc.’s Broadband Service Node 5000; and IBM’s eServer systems, TotalStorage products, IBM WebSphere Application Server and Edge Server, and Tivoli software, according to the announcement.
“These products have already been tested, so installation will be relatively fast and easy for users,” said Lourdes Pena, IBM public relations manager. The product package will handle storage functions, e-mail and remote access, and will feature mission-critical, carrier-grade elements such as security, quality of service, content distribution, dynamic caching, virtual private Ethernet and content intelligent switching, according to the announcement.
The cost of the package will be decided on a case-by-case basis, Pena said. “The price will be based on what is included in the package,” she said.
Network Solutions for eBusiness is available in basic models now, its full portfolio is due on the market by the fourth quarter of 2001, Evans said.
IBM, in Armonk, N.Y., can be reached at http://www.ibm.com/.
Nortel Networks, in Brampton, Ont., can be reached at http://www.nortel.com/.