Unisys Offers Migration Path from RISC to Intel

Unisys (UIS) has announced a partnership with Intel (INTC) to bring to market a secure computing platform for cloud and big data workloads, while offering Unix clients a cost-effective path off legacy RISC-based platforms onto an Intel-based environment.

Set to be released later this year, the new platform will combine Unisys' advanced secure partitioning (s-Par) with the computing and security features of Intel Xeon family processors. By bringing partitioning and other mission-critical attributes of RISC systems to an Intel x86 platform, the platform will provide a cost-efficient migration path from RISC systems running Unix applications. Industry analysts estimate that segments of the cloud computing, big data and Unix-RISC migration markets represent an aggregate market in excess of $23 billion, opening potential joint growth opportunities for Unisys and Intel over the next several years.

"Unisys has two decades of experience in bringing the power of industry-standard Intel technologies to the high-end server market," said Ed Coleman, Unisys chairman and CEO. "Now we are combining recent innovations from the two companies to provide a powerful, compelling and cost-efficient server platform able to handle today's most demanding applications while delivering the security, reliability, predictability and other attributes that organizations have come to expect from true mission-critical systems. It's a powerful combination that we believe will reignite the enterprise computing market."

Unisys will bring Intel Xeon innovations into the new platform, such as Intel integrated I/O, new Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0, and Intel Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (AES NI). Unisys and Intel will continue to collaborate on integrating additional Intel innovations into the platform.

"Intel and Unisys have a joint vision for bringing greater flexibility, simplicity and predictability to the portion of the enterprise computing segment that still uses legacy RISC-based systems today," said Shannon Poulin, vice president of marketing, Datacenter and Connected Solutions Group at Intel Corporation. "This innovative platform capitalizes on Intel Xeon Processor breakthroughs and the largest software ecosystem advancements to give organizations a powerful new alternative away from costly, outmoded RISC systems."