In the high-stakes game of Windows NT Server suites, Microsoft's BackOffice
is the standard by which all others are measured. But Microsoft faces stiff
competition from such big names as IBM, Netscape, and Oracle (for information on
other vendors that are looking for a piece of the action, see the sidebar, "Breaking into the Server Suite Game"). To follow the
game, you need to know what IBM, Netscape, and Oracle have to offer and how
Microsoft is prepared to maintain its kingpin status.
Playing Your Best Hand
Although server products form the foundation of today's enterprises, IBM,
Microsoft, Netscape, and Oracle offer a host of other products that go beyond
traditional server suites. Table 1, page 72, lists the major product lines for
each vendor. These vendors know that if they can get you to buy their server
solutions, they can probably sell you other components down the road. Although
you can mix and match vendor products to a limited extent, getting one vendor's
products to work together is usually easier than mixing products from several
vendors--at least you know where to point the finger if you have problems. But
where does that leave you? In the end, you're the one holding the cards and you
have to decide which hand to play. So is choosing a server suite a gambling
proposition? It doesn't have to be if you can make an informed decision about
what suite suits you.
Anyone But Microsoft
IBM, Netscape, and Oracle are all part of the unofficial ABM (Anyone But
Microsoft) alliance, and each vendor has strong commitments to the NT platform.
IBM is training its sights on NT throughout the company. DB2 honcho Janet Perna,
general manager of data management in IBM's Software Solutions Division, says
that IBM's sales force is focusing on NT. Gian Carlo Bisone, IBM's software
marketing general manager, is working with channel resellers and distributors to
provide training on IBM products such as Lotus Notes and DB2 running on NT. Bill
Reedy, IBM vice president of integrated solutions, puts IBM's NT strategy
succinctly, "Whatever the market says counts."
Microsoft's arch-rival, Netscape, recognizes the importance of the NT market
for its servers. According to Ben Horowitz, Netscape's group product manager of
server product marketing, Netscape's servers are a better investment because of
the price, packaging, and architecture. Horowitz notes another advantage: "We
don't charge extra to install our servers on different systems."
Even Oracle is hopping on the NT bandwagon. The company now has a special
150-person NT sales force and is porting its Oracle Open Gateways to NT. With
this commitment to the NT platform, IBM, Netscape, and Oracle are significantly
adding to and improving their product lines. Let's take a closer look at each
vendor's offerings.
IBM
IBM has embraced NT and open systems with a vengeance. According to Steve
Mills, general manager of IBM's Software Solutions Division, with its Software
Servers (originally code named Eagle), "IBM offers more NT products, with
better performance and more functionality than any other vendor in the
marketplace." However, not all seven Software Server components are
available for NT yet. The components are Communications Server, DB2 Database
Server, Directory and Security Server, Internet Connection Server, Lotus Domino
4.5 Web Server, Systems Management Server, and Transaction Server.
With its Software Servers for NT, IBM hopes to gain new customers, provide
easy connectivity to host data, and provide a clear path for NT customers to
upgrade to AIX. IBM sees itself as uniquely qualified to offer true enterprise
solutions that release content from mainframes and minicomputers, RISC systems,
and PCs into workgroups. IBM hopes to capitalize on its experience to glue
together its worldwide business applications.
IBM's Software Solutions Division, which is responsible for the Software
Servers, knows it must simplify installation and ensure the products work
together (out of a wish list of almost 200 products, IBM consolidated 57 into
the seven servers in its suite). To that end, IBM has established a new
Integration Lab and focused on usability.
In the database arena, IBM offers DB2 on everything from an Intel box to a
mainframe (to learn about DB2's position as a BackOffice alternative, see
Elizabeth Lindholm, "Is DB2 Right for You?," ). The company also has a
high-end, transaction-oriented Information Management System (IMS)database and
several data warehouse and data mart products. IBM has data mining and online
analytical processing (OLAP) products, but has primarily left the development of
DB2 vertical applications to its partners.
IBM's approach to Internet commerce is more hands-on. IBM's family of
CommercePOINT products, which includes Net.Commerce, helps companies host
storefronts. IBM has also formed alliances with banks to support home banking.
IBM will rent space on its secure IBM Global Network (IGN) as a value-added
network (VAN) alternative to traditional long-distance carriers. And unlike the
Internet's well-known free search engines, IBM's search engine for use in its
commercial Internet services, infoSage and infoMarket, will be fee based.
IBM's Communications Server competes head to head with Microsoft's SNA. The
company's new Transaction Server for NT will give NT users access to the
mainframe mainstay, CICS applications, and IBM's Transarc Encina TP monitor.
IBM's Transaction Server seems poised to offer more functionality than
Microsoft's forthcoming Transaction Service (formerly code named Viper).
IBM has hundreds of other products to support its Software Servers for NT.
They range from imaging tools (such as FlowMark and ImagePlus) to programming
languages (notably its VisualAge family). One product that is especially
important in IBM's overall software strategy is Lotus Notes. (IBM cites an
International Data Corporation report that says IBM gained 1.61 million new
Notes users in the first half of 1996.)
For many potential IBM Software Server customers, the Lotus Domino 4.5 Web
Server will be the plum. Domino is a Web server and messaging server in one. It
provides an integrated, enterprise-ready client/server messaging and groupware
solution that lets users develop, deploy, and manage a Web site that leverages
Domino's infrastructure. The infrastrucure is powered by Notes and includes
security and replication functionality and workflow and application development
capabilities. Although IBM is pursuing its own efforts to keep up in the Web
wars (the company recently introduced a Web browser terminal), IBM hopes new
users will join more than 7 million Notes (and Domino) users by choosing IBM as
their Internet/intranet groupware solution--the one through which they do their
browsing, scheduling, messaging, and collaboration.
IBM is hedging its bets in the distributed objects arena by announcing
support for its own OpenDoc/Common Object Request Broker Architecture (COBRA)
standard; the Microsoft-centric ActiveX/component object model (COM)
architecture; and Sun Microsystem/JavaSoft's Java Beans, the beta,
platform-neutral set of APIs for software components that will interoperate COM,
Open- Doc, and Netscape's plug-in architectures. "IBM will continue
to support OpenDoc, Java Beans, and future technologies that let developers
incorporate information into applications running throughout the enterprise,"
says Steve Mills.
Why Lotus persists in promoting its not-quite-pure ActiveX Lotus Components
is a mystery. Similarly, Lotus needs to abandon its Visual Basic (VB)-compatible
LotusScript in favor of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and Visual Basic
Script (VBS). This same advice goes for Oracle's Oracle Basic.
Whether IBM's Software Servers for NT can steal market share from
Microsoft's BackOffice as it moves down-market is hard to say. IBM claims to
have a different value set that the company has developed from its reliability,
collective wisdom based on decades of experience, and the IBM logo. However,
IBM's Software Servers for NT will probably cannibalize its OS/2 customer base
(John Thompson, IBM's senior vice president in charge of the Software Solutions
Division, says IBM has about 14 million OS/2 users) and perhaps some of its
AS/400 customers. On the plus side, IBM's Software Servers for NT may pull in
new customers from Novell sites.