IBM, Microsoft In Battle For ISVs

These ISVs constitute the first front in a war between Microsoft .Net and IBM, said Mark Hanny, vice president of SMB and Partner Marketing for IBM Software. "This is Normandy Beach," he said.

IBM Software last week tapped Hanny to lead the charge in recruiting ISVs and integrating their offerings into IBM's go-to-market programs. Microsoft's decision to dive into the business application space with its own CRM, ERP and supply chain management products has irked ISVs already in those markets, Hanny and others said.

Microsoft's acquisitions of Great Plains and Navision, coupled with its divorce from Siebel Systems last week, prove how serious it is about business apps, observers said.

But Charles Fitzgerald, general manager of the platform strategy group at Microsoft, said the vendor remains focused on providing a platform for ISVs. "Not only do we continue to invest and partner with ISVs at the very highest end, our acquisitions [of Great Plains and Navision will become platform assets that ISVs can incorporate into their own solutions," he said.

Said Hanny: "The good news is many developers who used to build on [Windows NT have come to us since Navision, since Great Plains. We give them leverage they never had before."

Solution providers said this is the right move for IBM. "They're foolish if they don't [recruit ISVs ... because in my opinion, they're a good technology and solutions company but can't sell their way out of a paper bag," said Lewis Johnson, president of Siwel Consulting, New York.