IBM announced a number of other products along with DataPower, including what it calls IBM Storwize Rapid Application (RAS), which creates an integrated offering around Tivoli Storage Productivity Center and Tivoli Storage FlashCopy Manager. It combines with the IBM Storwize V7000 mid-range storage system.

For networking, IBM is releasing a new switch from Blade Network Technologies, a firm it acquired in October. It includes a new top-of-rack Ethernet switch that can reach 40Gbit/sec.

Patrick Thibodeau covers SaaS and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld. Follow Patrick on Twitter at or subscribe to . His e-mail address is .

in Computerworld's Mainframes and Supercomputers Topic Center.