This 'Outdated' IBM Technology Just Did Something It Hasn't Done in 20 Years

Core Insights - IBM's mainframe business is thriving, recording its best fourth-quarter revenue in over 20 years with a 61% year-over-year increase, adjusted for currency [2] - The mainframe systems are crucial for industries requiring high reliability and security, with 71% of Fortune 500 companies utilizing them [3] Group 1: Financial Performance - IBM's mainframe revenue surged 61% year-over-year, contributing to a 17% increase in the infrastructure segment [2] - The mainframe business is a significant part of IBM's overall strategy, showcasing resilience and growth in a competitive market [1] Group 2: Market Presence - Over 90% of installed mainframe systems are from IBM, with 92% of large financial institutions and 63% of government agencies relying on these systems [3] - Mainframes process over 87% of global credit card transactions, highlighting their importance in financial operations [3] Group 3: Technological Advancements - The latest z17 mainframe systems are designed for the AI era, capable of handling over 250 AI use cases and performing up to 450 billion AI inferencing operations per day, a 50% increase from its predecessor [5] - IBM's z17 mainframe systems have an average response time of just one millisecond, making them suitable for real-time applications [5] Group 4: Future Outlook - IBM anticipates a shift in the AI inferencing market, predicting that in three to five years, 50% of enterprise AI usage will occur in private clouds or on-premises data centers [7] - The company is also enhancing its mainframe capabilities with the Spyre AI accelerator, allowing for more powerful AI model execution [6]