Intel Cluster Ready drives out costs.  There are several key factors that lead to this result:

1. Replicability: By creating a programmatic validation process of the systems software components and hardware, there is reduction in time of basic, common repeated steps.

2. Applications working out of the box:  At the end of the day the systems are used to support applications – engineering, research, simulation or modeling. Deploying a system with confidence that the application will work with predictable performance is a significant step forward, especially for the non-savvy and emerging adopters. It also saves time “monkeying around” with the configuration. And time is money.

3. Commoditization is at work:  This occurs when a market has been overshot, suggesting the competitive dimensions are shifting from functionality, performance and reliability to convenience (ease of use), customization (extensions) and price. The fundamental value proposition of Intel Cluster Ready affords more time to software developers like Univa to innovate in functionality that exposes convenience and new untapped capabilities that enable system optimization and lower cost of ownership. By not having to work on the basics we are afforded time to work on these innovations.

As we as an industry progress, increased de-coupling in the components of the solution suggests more interfaces will need to be defined and more convenience brought to the solution to enable new sets of customers to capture the value sooner. Intel Cluster Ready has already done a significant amount of the prescriptive work but there is more work to do. The future for the program is clearly bright.