IBM Borrowing Big Auto Tactics?

Interesting article at BusinessWeek.com by Katie Hoffman about how IBM is using tried/true auto sales tactics to push its servers into the data center.

"Starting this month, Oracle and HP customers that switch to IBM's latest package of servers, software, and storage, priced at upwards of $75,000, will get trade-in credit and can defer all payments until next year, interest-free. Big Blue also will help finance the cost of taking out a client's old equipment and transferring the data over to its Power7 system."

According to Hoffman, it's working, as IBM "managed to steal 500 customers away from competitors last year, (and) hit that mark in just six months in 2010."

If the tactics work, will "new server salesman" become the new "used car salesman"? Will we see holiday sales events, limited-time offers, or even the old puppy dog/lapdog tricks, as they're known in the business?