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IBM
new software portfolio for Middle East
Posted: 23 May 2003
New “Express” versions of enterprise-level
DB2, Lotus and Tivoli software join successful WebSphere offerings
to help SMBs easily bring together their business processes
IBM Middle East announced today the rollout of a broad portfolio
of infrastructure software for small and medium businesses (SMBs)
under the ‘Express’ banner from its DB2, Lotus and Tivoli
brands, joining its successful WebSphere offerings announced in
the region last December.
Designed, priced and marketed specifically to help small and medium
businesses integrate and manage their different business processes,
the new middleware from IBM is based on open standards, providing
an alternative to the proprietary approach to computing common in
this market.
It also has a number of autonomic features – self-managing
and self-healing technologies to reduce the administration burden
on IT departments.
“Smaller businesses in this region are looking for reliable
and easy to deploy solutions, which will not tie them in to a specific
technology platform. These kinds of organisations often have limited
IT budgets, and want to be sure that as technology or their market
changes, they can easily adapt, without losing their technology
investment,” said Bashar Kilani, software group manager, IBM
Middle East and North/West Africa.
“They need Web-based solutions that will deliver immediate
business value and help them grow their businesses quickly. The
new Express software will help SMBs integrate a number of operations
-- managing finance and accounting, customer relationships or the
supply chain.”
Businesses that integrate all their operations end-to-end across
the company and with suppliers, customers and employees will take
a major step toward becoming an on demand e-business -- able to
respond with flexibility and speed to any customer demand, market
opportunity or external threat.
The following new IBM Express offerings were developed in consultation
with Business Partners and configured for them to resell and customize
to meet the needs of their customers:
- IBM DB2 Express is a new, full function database for the midmarket.
It offers customers the convenience of being pre-configured by
Business Partners for solutions in key vertical markets such as
retail, manufacturing and banking. Business Partners embedding
DB2 Express in their offerings can offer customers the convenience
of a one or no-click silent, unobtrusive database installation.
DB2 Express also provides advanced manageability features through
self-tuning and self-configuring characteristics that enable customers
to reduce complexity, increase reliability and improve overall
total cost of ownership. The offering, which will run on Linux
and Windows, is now available to customers in beta and will be
generally available worldwide in the second-quarter of 2003.
- IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager Express Edition, available
in the second quarter, is an open, integrated and autonomic solution
aimed at enabling small- and medium-sized businesses to optimally
manage their storage environments and is designed for deployment
on single processor desktops. It installs in as few as 15 minutes
and can help SMBs improve ROI on storage hardware through increased
capacity utilization, simplified administration, lower costs,
and reduced risk of application downtime.
- IBM Lotus Domino Utility Server Express and Lotus Domino Collaboration
Bundle Express will be available in the second quarter with targeted
licensing, deployment and administration options appropriate for
midmarket organizations of fewer than 1,000 employees. Lotus Domino
Collaboration Bundle Express combines the Lotus Domino Server
and the choice of the Lotus Notes client or Lotus Domino Web Access
(iNotes) for e-mail and collaborative applications.
Lotus Domino Utility Server Express will allow unlimited access
to collaborative applications via either a Web browser or a separately
purchased Notes client. Both Lotus Domino-based Express offerings
will deliver the same enterprise grade messaging, group calendaring
and off-the-shelf or custom application support that are relied
upon by large organizations around the globe. They will carry the
same benefits of dependability and security, and can lower total
cost of ownership (TCO) and higher return on investment (ROI) than
competitive products.
Feedback from business partners indicates that the new Express
offerings will to be as successful in the market as previously released
WebSphere - Express products.
WebSphere Application Server - Express, which already supports
Linux and Windows, will add support on February 21 for IBM's iSeries
-- an integrated mid-market server that features mainframe-class
technology -- and will add support for AIX, Solaris and HP-UX in
later in the first half of this year.
In the second quarter IBM will also release the next version of
WebSphere Portal - Express, which will include support for Linux
and Microsoft SQL Server as well as offer new collaboration features
from Lotus software. WebSphere Portal - Express on Linux gives SMBs
an open, cost-effective and reliable workplace platform for all
industries, promoting productivity and efficiency.
For business partners, IBM's Express portfolio offers a strategic
platform for delivering midmarket solutions and customer value.
For ISVs, IBM Express offerings provide an ROI that will support
ISV profitably, adding value to their solutions over time. For other
solution providers, the IBM Express products can help establish
repeatable engagements and be used as a springboard to larger opportunities.
IBM Express Product Process
IBM understands that SMBs have unique and differing technology needs
and has invested in the development of products and services designed,
priced and marketed specifically for these customers as they become
on demand businesses. With that in mind, IBM has created a rigorous
process to ensure that all Software Group product
offerings that use the "Express" designation adopt attributes
that are important for success in the medium business market, including
being priced to market, provides the right functions, is a complete
software solution, is extensible and flexible, has a reasonable
footprint, and that it's easy to install, manage, integrate, learn
and use. The assessment framework also enables product teams to
quickly leverage existing market intelligence, benchmark their product's
fit to medium business wants and needs, identify competitive gaps
and prioritise action items for improving product relevancy to medium
businesses.
Passport Advantage Express Licensing
As business partners are a primary route to market for IBM's $13
billion software division, IBM will offer new training and support
programs that help partners resell, install, integrate and finance
the new Express software. For example, a new offering, known as
the Passport Advantage Express, has a much simplified licensing
model that will make it easier for small and medium-sized customers
to acquire IBM technology -- particularly Express offerings -- and
easier for Business Partners to work with IBM to serve this community.
Passport Advantage Express will have the following characteristics:
- Single suggested retail price for each product
- One license model -- perpetual license includes a full 12 months
of maintenance (subscription and support)
- Transaction-based renewals -- Software Maintenance renewal
on anniversary date of each purchase
- Simple license terms -- no contracts or signatures
- One step end user registration process
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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