IBM Gets Ethernet Access In 3Com Deal

By Monua Janah

BM's huge installed base of Token-Ring customers will get easy access to 3Com Corp.'s high-speed Ethernet technology under a broad alliance the vendors unveiled last week. IBM has touted ATM as the migration path for its networking customers, but ATM has been slow to take off.

"IBM customers will have access to low-cost Ethernet technology through this deal," says Dave Passmore, a principal of Decisys, a Sterling, Va., consulting firm. "3Com is on the leading edge of Ethernet switching. IBM was a bit behind."

IBM's network hardware unit will integrate 3Com's Fast Ethernet and forthcoming Gigabit Ethernet technology into its 8260 high-end LAN switching hubs. The 8260 is IBM's version of a 3Com product inherited from ChipCom Corp., which 3Com acquired in 1995.

IBM also will resell versions of 3Com's SuperStack II 1000 and 3000 workgroup switches. In addition, IBM and 3Com will exchange technologies for high-end LAN switches. 3Com will use IBM's Prizma ATM chipset, and IBM will use 3Com's Ethernet-to-ATM ZipC hip.

3Com, in Santa Clara, Calif., will resell IBM's Multiprotocol Switched Services Server, which incorporates routing-switching technology that lets users integrate ATM with legacy LANs. New functions will include support for Multiprotocol Over ATM, which has just been approved as an industry standard. IBM plans to provide ATM uplinks for some future IBM and 3Com switches.

Some customers say there's potential for clashes between IBM's 8260 and 3Com's switches. But 3Com senior VP Ron Sege says the vendors have complementary channels and customers. "We run into each other very infrequently in the marketplace," he says. "IBM has a well-defined set of customers."

Passmore says the alliance with 3Com is a sign that IBM is decreasing its dependence on Xylan Corp.'s OmniSwitch high-end LAN platform, which IBM has been reselling since last year.

Back to News in Review

Send Us Your Feedback

Top of the Page