King of the Enterprise Messaging Mountain
Don't look now, but Microsoft's Exchange Server is tearing up the enterprise messaging mountain. Once an also-ran to Lotus Notes, Exchange is now the fastest climbing client/server messaging platform, according to the Electronic Mail Messaging Newsletter. In the first quarter of 1998, Exchange Server gained 3.05 million new seats compared with 2.7 million new seats for Lotus Notes.
Exchange Server's stunning first quarter is only one trend in a complex industry shift that might whisk Microsoft to the top of the enterprise messaging heap. Another trend is third-party vendors are using Exchange Server rather than Lotus Notes in their products. For example, AT&T offshoot Lucent Technologies is now pushing a combined messaging and telephony platform that uses Exchange Server as the underlying engine. With the platform, remote users can use the telephone to access their voicemail, email, and fax service. The platform is based on Octel Unified Messenger for Exchange, which Lucent acquired as part of its purchase of Octel in September 1997.
Internally, Microsoft is making strides to further erode Lotus' market share. Microsoft's acquisition of the Mesa Group brings critical Notes-to-Exchange migration tools inhouse. These tools will likely ship free of charge as part of the future Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack. This service pack will include additional workflow tools and connectivity utilities designed to bring Exchange on par with Lotus Notes in the document management space. For example, one important connectivity utility in the upcoming service pack is Legacy Connectors. With these extensions, Exchange Server can coexist with legacy IBM PROFs and SNA messaging platforms running on Digital Equipment Alpha servers. These new connectors will support x509 version 3 digital certificates and further legitimize Exchange Server's role as an enterprise messaging solution.
Although the signs look promising for Microsoft to rule the enterprise messaging mountain, it's too early for a coronation. Despite Microsoft's impressive gains, Notes still has an edge over Exchange Server in certain areas. For example, Lotus still reigns supreme in AS/400 and RS/6000 messaging platforms because of its affiliation with IBM.
Ironically, Microsoft's biggest challenge might come from within. Exchange Server 6.0 will reportedly require Active Directory (AD), a dependency that will later haunt Microsoft if Windows NT 5.0 is slow out of the gate.
Citrix Does Windows CE
When Citrix Systems announced that it was delivering a Windows Consumer Electronics (CE) version of its Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) client to OEMs, most journalists gave the announcement only passing mention. However, this development is significant because it signals a change in how this company is approaching its relationship with Microsoft.
By targeting Windows CE--and the many Windows terminal OEMs building for this platform--Citrix has upped the ante in its poker game with Microsoft. No longer content to pursue just the non-Windows client computing space, Citrix is going after the heart of a market that Microsoft is still trying to define: Windows CE-based terminals.
Citrix has never coveted Windows users, but its platform goals have never been short-sighted either. For years, the company has shipped both 16- and 32-bit Windows versions of its ICA client, along with DOS, OS/2, Macintosh, and UNIX clients. Even the Windows terminal market, which Microsoft defines as a Windows CE-based segment, has its roots in ICA. Citrix pioneered the idea of dedicated Windows-based terminal devices long before Microsoft showed an interest.
By extending its reach to include Windows CE, Citrix is guaranteeing a share of the Windows terminal market for itself and its vendors. Without this new development, Boundless, Wyse, NCD, and other vendors that designed legacy ICA devices for Citrix WinFrame stand to lose business as Microsoft shifts to the Remote Display Protocol (RDP) in its Windows-based Terminal Server. But with Citrix's development of a Windows CE client, these vendors can retain ICA connectivity and develop wares for Microsoft's RDP and Windows CE designs. This dual focus will likely result in dual-function RDP/ICA Windows terminals.