The new system, the z10 Business Class (BC), features a 3.5GHz processor and is about 40% faster than its predecessor, the z9 BC, which came out about three years ago, according to IBM.

Although the z10 BC is the compact version of its larger sibling, it offers similar capabilities, including encryption and partitioning. Where the z10 EC offers the equivalent capacity of 1,500 x86 servers, the z10 BC can accommodate up to 232 x86 servers -- while taking up very little data center space, according to IBM.

The z10 BC runs Linux and the zOS operating system and competes against and x86 systems running large databases and ERP apps, as well as systems working as consolidation platforms.

To help sweeten the deal for its customers in the current uncertain economic environment, IBM is offering the kind of financing terms retailers sometimes offer to consumers: 90-day deferral on payments, with no additional interest -- provided the system is ordered before the end of the year.

and this particular deal, which IBM is calling "Why Wait?" is "an acknowledgement of tightening in the credit markets," said David Gelardi, vice president of IBM Systems and Technology Group Worldwide Client Centers.