In Q3 2007, Itanium-based system revenue again topped more than $1 billion, a feat achieved in three of the last four quarters. Worldwide, Itanium-based systems continue to gain share in both volume and revenue, with increases of 55 percent and 45 percent (YoY), respectively. Itanium-based system volume also amassed double-digit percentage gains in all regions .

Itanium-based system revenue reached its highest levels yet as a percentage of the RISC architecture. On a quarter-to-quarter basis, Itanium-based system revenue vs. Sun SPARC leapt more than 15 percent, from 57 to 73 percent and Itanium-based system revenue vs. IBM Power grew 5 percent from 54 to 59 percent .

"Customers are increasingly choosing Itanium-based solutions over the competition because Itanium-based platforms are ideal for mission-critical workloads, as evidenced by the impressive worldwide gains this past year. We will continue to take advantage of the competition's lack of progress and expand Itanium opportunities in 2008 through the addition of new Alliance members, expanded availability for solutions and the launch of innovative new programs," said Jacobs.

Jacobs' efforts continue the aggressive Alliance activities already underway. With a significant number of new applications for Itanium-based systems released in 2007, including applications from Red Hat, Symantec, ESI Group, Sophos and many others, Itanium-based system momentum is poised for strong growth in the coming year. Currently, more than 12,000 applications and tools are available on Itanium-based systems, representing a 200 percent increase year over year with a long list of new applications slated for release in 2008.

"We're excited to have Joan on board because she is a proven leader and understands exactly what it takes to address market challenges and harness Alliance resources to produce the best results possible," said Robin Drummond, president of the Itanium Solutions Alliance. "Joan's global expertise is just what we need to capitalize on Itanium's significant growth and prepare for the advancements that Tukwila will bring to the marketplace later this year."

Tukwila is the code name for Intel's next level Itanium processor, which features four cores with hyper-threading technology, large on-die caches, as well as mainframe-level RAS and virtualization enhancements.

"We're on the right track in every area and combined with the strong support from Intel, our Founders, Charter Members and Itanium-based solutions providers, we are in a perfect position to make even more significant gains in market share and system revenue growth versus the competition," said Jacobs.

Jacobs' experience spans many years in the technology sector as an executive with Hewlett Packard (HP), Raytheon and Data General Corporation. She also represented HP on the Alliance's Steering Committee and chaired the organization's Enabling Committee. Most recently at HP, Jacobs led partner development for HP Integrity Servers, which included working with ISVs to port their applications to the product's Itanium-based platforms.

About the Itanium Solutions Alliance
The Itanium Solutions Alliance was formed by leading enterprise and technical solutions providers to work together toward a common objective of transitioning the world of proprietary computing platforms to open, industry standard solutions based on Intel Itanium architecture. Together with leading enterprise software and hardware providers, the Alliance is dedicated to accelerating the adoption and ongoing development of Itanium-based solutions. For information about Itanium-based solutions that bolster mission-critical computing, please visit www.itaniumsolutions.com. More information about the Itanium Solutions Alliance, membership, industry resources and developer programs can be found at www.itaniumsolutionsalliance.org.

© 2008. Itanium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation.
*All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

1 Source: IDC Q307 Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, December 2007

2 Source: IDC Q307 Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, December 2007

3 Source: Intel Corporation (2008)