Midsize companies are looking for ways to better align their IT strategywith the needs of the business, improve access to information, reduce costsassociated with manual processes and securely integrate information fromdisparate sources. IBM is committed to helping midsize businesses find newand affordable ways to apply technology to provide greater value to theircustomers.

IBM has launched a new software offering that helps midsize companiesdeliver better quality software, improve operational efficiency andcontinuously lower risk. IBM RationalQuality Manager Express is the first centralized Web-based testmanagement solution built on IBM's Jazz technology. The softwareprovides a Web 2.0 collaborative, customizable environment for testplanning, construction, deployment and execution. It also enables workflowcontrol and quantifiable metrics for project tracking and decision-makingto ensure that the business objectives and outcomes of a software releasehave been met. A key benefit of the software is that it provides a centralhub for business-driven software-quality delivery.

For example, the CIO of a company that manufactures electronic medicaldevices depends on the functionality of the company's software to ensurethat the medical devices work. Using Rational Quality Manager Express theycan monitor the aspects of the software delivery process that arecontributing to the development of the medical devices.

As a result of being informed in real-time, they can now make immediatedecisions to enable delivery of a high quality product to the marketplaceon time and ahead of their company's competitors. With the implementationof Rational Quality Manager Express, if an issue with that software arises,the company and its IT staff would be alerted. The company is then able totake immediate action to fix the defects, thereby reducing delays and lostrevenue.

"IBM's hardware, software and services offerings for the midmarket providebusiness partners with cost-effective solutions to help streamline businessprocesses, gain information insights, employ new business models and securemore reliable access to critical resources," said Marc Dupaquier, generalmanager, IBM Global Midmarket. "The addition of Rational Quality ManagerExpress to the Express Advantage portfolio will enable them tosignificantly increase their operational efficiencies, employeeproductivity, customer service and competitive advantage to supportgrowth."

"We are excited about the addition of Rational Quality Manager Express tothe Jazz suite of IBM solutions," said Arthur Povlot, Sales Manager ofTescom USA. "Tescom is always looking to ease the process of softwaretesting and improve business collaboration to meet the challenges of aconstantly changing environment. This new software will enable us toachieve this while improving our customers productivity and increase theirrevenue."

New Business Partner Offerings:

IBM has also launched new tools that drive innovation and growth for ourbusiness partners in the midmarket. These tools demonstrate IBM's continuedfocus on helping business partners better serve the needs of theircustomers.

IBM's Solutions Builder Express program, which enables business partners toprovide cost-effective infrastructure solutions to meet the needs ofmidmarket customers, now includes the Solutions Consultant Tool V3. The tool helps solution providers to findclear and rapid resolution for solving discreet IT problems, or expandexisting IT infrastructure solutions. By using the tool, business partnerscan shorten the solution sales cycle by up to 50 percent, while increasingtheir value-added services, gaining easier access to new markets andincreasing profitability.

IBM SoftwareAssembly Toolkit offers a simple and intuitive approach for businesspartners and independent software vendor to deploy their businessapplications. The toolkit assembles multiple middleware software productsand the applications that run on them, and then creates a package for easyinstallation on a customer's computer. This package enables customers,business partners, and service organizations to gain complete control overthe deployment experience by embedding OEM software. Deploying solutionshappens in a matter of hours and the number of errors that commonly occurduring deployment is significantly reduced.

IBM Finances the Midmarket Needs

IBM Global Financing, the lending and leasing business segment of IBM, hasdesigned financing options that can help clients in the midmarket deferup-front investment costs for IBM hardware, software and services, therebyconserving cash for other more pressing business priorities. IBM FinancingAdvantage offers fast and simple financing at competitive rates, withsimplified Web-based processes to deliver credit, price and contracts inless than one hour.

IBM Global Financing now offers "Why Wait," a no interest nopayments program for 90 days deferral plan to support eligible customersacquiring IBM technology now through the end of 2008.The promotionfinancing structure is a 36 month fair market value lease. Customersinstalling the new server under the promotion terms make no payments for 90days, and then make 36 even monthly payments (33 payments in somecountries). Customers must be credit qualified, lease the eligibleequipment with IGF for the promotional term and structure, and install theproduct in participating countries by Dec. 31, 2008.

For more information about IBM Global Financing's offering for financingthe technology needs of midsize companies, visit IBM's Medium business financingsolutions site.

IBM expands Express Advantage portfolio

IBM Express Advantage combines a comprehensive portfolio of technologyofferings, business solutions and financing options with a network of localIBM Business Partners and dedicated Concierge customer support service tocreate a powerful, end-to-end approach for helping the mid-sized customerincrease efficiency, advance their innovation agenda and grow.

IBM continues to leverage these capabilities to differentiate itself in themarketplace and drive growth in the $253 billion midmarket, one of IBM'slargest and fastest growing market opportunities.

Recently, IBM launched several new Express Advantage security and IToptimization offerings to meet the needs of midmarket companies.

New Express Advantage Security and Threat Mitigation offerings:

IBMRational AppScan Express Edition helps companies address both externaland internal Web security threats before they impact the business. Inaddition, the software helps small and midsize businesses manage Websecurity and comply with mandatory regulations including the Payment CardIndustry Data Security Standard or the Health Insurance Portability andAccountability Act.

The Express Multi-Function Security Bundle and Express ManagedMulti-Function Security Bundle have expanded into a number of newcountries including Greece, Israel, Turkey, Luxembourg, Philippines,Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Express Multi-Function Security Bundle provides the most completeprotection against network threats, vulnerabilities, worms, viruses,spy-ware and spam in a single unified threat management appliance solution.Express Managed Multi-Function Security Bundle was developed for clientswho prefer a fully managed multi-function security solution. IBM isdelivering a service that provides 24/7 comprehensive protection,monitoring, and supports a broad array of security needs.

IBM partnered with the Aberdeen Group to develop the IT Security AssessmentTool for midsize companies to help assess the existing ITinfrastructure and determine where they may be vulnerable. The online toolprovides them with suggestions on how they can improve their IT securitybased on Aberdeen's market research.

New Express Advantage IT Optimization offerings:

IBMPower 560 Express provides midsize business with enhancedvirtualization and energy efficiency, outstanding price/performance andoffers double the performance per watt of the HP Integrity and Sun SPARCEnterprise servers. This new server can save companies as much as 93percent on space costs by consolidating older server technology.

IBM BladeCenter® LS22Express and IBM BladeCenter LS42Express feature the latest quad-core AMD Opteron(TM) processors and areavailable with solid-state drives, which can lower energy use and increasereliability. The LS42 blade server consumes up to 13 percent less powerthan comparable blade offerings provides 20 percent faster memory, and isideal for companies looking to run high-performance, memory-intensiveapplications. With the new 2+2 program, clients can start with two socketson the LS42 server and expand to a four-socket server as their businessneeds demand.

IBMBladeCenter S provides "shared storage," bringing a storage capabilityto smaller firms once available only to large enterprises. BladeCenter Scan help reduce the number of servers used by an average midsize company byup to 80 percent and cut the cost of shared storage technology by 30-40percent.

IBM SystemStorage TS2900 Tape Autoloader Express provides midsize companies thatneed increased capacity and data encryption for a midrange open-systemsenvironment, with entry-level automated backup for rack systems withlow-profile, high density storage capacity. The offering incorporates IBM'snew patented High Density slot technology and can be operated remotely viaan easy-to-use Web interface.

IBMSystem Storage 7214 Tape & DVD Enclosure Express is a low-cost storageand archival solution for IBM Power Systems that offers midsize companieshigher performance in the most compact and affordable packaging possible.With faster data transfer rates compared to existing SCSI devices and thechoice of several drive technologies, its low-profile design enables it tobe installed in one EIA unit (1U) of a standard 19-inch server rack.

WebSphere ApplicationServer - Express V7 is an affordable, ready-to-go solution fordeveloping, running and managing dynamic Web applications. New performanceenhancements to this solution deliver data center efficiency via theability to consolidate workloads enabling smaller footprint, less energyand less cost. New flexible management features also improve efficienciesof administration and allows remote production resource management ofWebSphere Application Server - Express V7. It supports the full Java EE 5programming model and includes Web 2.0 and Web services support. It alsoincludes easy-to-use integrated wizards and samples to get help users getstarted quickly.

For more information about Express Advantage and the new Express Advantageofferings, visit www.ibm.com/expressadvantage.

Join IBM's Express Advantage online social media communities:

Facebook: IBMExpress Advantage group on Facebook

Twitter: IBM Express Advantagechannel on Twitter

YouTube: IBM ExpressAdvantage YouTube channel

LinkedIn: IBM ExpressAdvantage group on LinkedIn

Slideshare: IBMExpress Advantage slidespace

The Midmarket Blog: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/page/smb

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Contact:Jeff GluckIBM Media Relations914-765-6072jgluck@us.ibm.com