Gerald -

You've conveyed how bad performance is in that operation, but we have
no solid information on what you are doing or the configuration
there, as in exactly what kind of Import, disk and I/O channel
configurations, tape connection type, etc.  An Import is like an
intense client Backup, and thus tests the capabilities of the system
as it was set up.  As such, many of the factors listed under "Backup
performance" and "Disk performance" in ADSM QuickFacts pertain here.
For example, if the disk types were unfamiliar to AIX when installed,
you will get poor performance from a small disk controller Queue
Depth value.  And TSM deliberately throttles back performance when
the Recovery Log goes over 80% full.

And we have no information on your TSM configuration.  If you are
importing data for a variety of clients, and node collocation is in
effect, then extra time will go to mounting more tapes.  If there are
any drive or tape media issues, writing to tape will be a struggle
and slow things down.  Too many things on one SCSI channel will
result in contention.  (Do not have tape and disk on the same
channel.)  And Raw Logical Volumes is the way to go for the TSM db in
AIX.  The more heads serving the TSM db, by whatever method, the
better.  The TSM Performance Tuning Guide has good information.

You know the configuration, and have to weigh the factors.  Consider
stopping and taking a good look at that configuration: if loading is
slow, the subsequent serving of that data may not be any better, so
you could face further grief in the future is the issues are not
resolved.

   Richard Sims