Uneasy Alliance

No two companies have done more for Java than Sun Microsystems and IBM. No other companies have invested more money, man-hours and resources into lifting the programming language into the mainstream. Both vendors swear that Java and the J2EE framework are key to the future of computing and have extensive software strategies riding on them.

So why do they seem to dislike each other so much?

Sun and IBM, staunch Java allies when Sun introduced the technology in 1995, have become estranged partners in establishing Java's place in Web services development, where Microsoft is pushing its .Net platform. The tension crested this year with the inception of the Web Services Interoperability Organization (WS-I).

>> TENSION IN THE SUN-IBM JAVA PARTNERSHIP IS CLOUDING THE FUTURE OF WEB SERVICES DEVELOPMENT, INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES SAY.

The issue resurfaced a few months later, when IBM proposed that the WS-I board expand its membership, ostensibly to include Sun, industry observers said. But in May, an e-mail introduced in the Microsoft antitrust trial showed that Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates indicated he would approve Microsoft's participation in WS-I only if Sun wasn't involved in its launch. At the time, a Sun insider also said there was other evidence showing that Microsoft and IBM voted against Sun's participation as a WS-I co-founder and wanted "to stick it to Sun" in the Web services game.

Since then, Sun has taken a wait-and-see stance toward joining WS-I.

"Do I wish that we could work together more effectively? Absolutely. I really wish we could," said Jonathan Schwartz, executive vice president of software at Sun, in an interview. "But IBM has cast its lot with Microsoft, and if the marketplace needs to see Sun on the one hand and IBM-Microsoft on the other, well then that's the way it will be."

The WS-I dilemma echoes a two-year battle over Sun's handling of J2EE licensing. IBM and other Java players still bristle at what they consider to be Sun's heavy-handed control of the Java standard and the Java Community Process (JCP) that manages it. At one point, IBM executives openly stated that the company wanted to "take the Sun out of Java."

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a recent interview that Sun already has faded as a competitive threat, while IBM remains a strong rival and Java remains a cog of Web services. "[Sun] is just an enterprise implementer of Java and not the best implementer. IBM is a better implementer of Java than Sun," he said.

Sun Executive VP Jonathan Schwartz: 'If the marketplace needs to see Sun on the one hand and IBM-Microsoft on the other, well then that's the way it will be.'

Sun, however, aims to topple IBM from its position as a Java software leader, Schwartz said. IBM is using Java to push its own agenda, as evidenced by its close cooperation with Microsoft, he added.

"IBM has pretty much shown their hand in the last couple of years that they have no interest in trying to drive Java standards. They have every interest in trying to drive IBM standards," Schwartz said. "So with their partnership with Microsoft, I think they're tipping their hand and saying they want the world to collect IBM middleware, deploy IBM Global Services and pay IBM for patents on standards that ought to be royalty-free. That's their call."

Since Java's inception seven years ago, IBM claims to have had more people working on Java than anyone, including Sun. IBM Senior Vice President Steve Mills, head of the IBM Software Group, estimated that IBM fields between 10,000 and 15,000 Java developers in its 37,000-person software division.

"Java is a great platform and a great business for IBM. It is extremely important to us," Mills said. "We haven't hidden the fact that we've been encouraging Sun to look at an industry-based, open-standards organization for Java." Such a move would eventually spare Sun the time, effort and financial burden required to keep the Java platform up to date, he said.

IBM will continue to work with Sun on the JCP and to drive Java,as well as Microsoft .Net,as a Web services platform, said Scott Hebner, director of marketing for IBM's WebSphere application server. "We view our strategy as one of inclusiveness. We're above the [standards] fray," Hebner said.

By and large, solution providers seem to be taking the conflict surrounding Java in stride. Andy Sweet, CTO of Perficient, an Austin, Texas-based integrator, said attendees at last spring's JavaOne conference could sense the tension between Sun and IBM. "Customers ask us about this stuff, but it's not affecting them," Sweet said, adding that the sniping between vendors is "almost amusing."

Still, other solution providers say they're concerned about friction among Java proponents and within the Web standards arena in general, since the whole notion of Web services rests on interoperability and efforts such as WS-I. Jason Black, manager of consulting services at Omaha, Neb.-based MSI Systems Integrators, said he watches the interactions of the Java partners carefully.

"We're tied to IBM. So if we see something in the press about this, the first thing we do is get on the phone with IBM to find out what's going on because we know we'll be asked about it," Black said.

Sun solution providers, too, are keeping a close eye on Java diplomacy. David Chao, vice president of sales and marketing at Navidec, Greenwood Village, Colo., said the shifting vendor alignments could undermine his company's technology investments because they cloud an already-challenging business climate.

"Business is hard enough. Now you have to try to predict what these guys are going to do," Chao said. "At a minimum, it's a pain in the butt."

Industry observers say broad acceptance of Java is fundamental for Sun, which has to prove once and for all that it is serious about software,especially since the company's core server business has been crunched by the dot-com meltdown and sluggish economy. So far, Sun hasn't established itself as a power in Java-based application servers and doesn't have much of a software business, they say.

And some Sun partners are concerned that the vendor hasn't reaped bigger rewards from its software. "Sun really has to focus on its software because the margins are bigger," said Chao.

Sun's main problem in pushing its Java software to customers is poor marketing, not the product itself, said Grady Crunk, executive vice president at Central Data, Titusville, Fla. "Sun typically is known for being one of the worst marketing companies in the industry," Crunk said. "[Sun ONE] is good stuff, but how many people have heard about it?"

Sun Chairman and CEO Scott McNealy's statements about software being a feature of hardware haven't helped the company's software marketing. But this year, Sun has stepped up its efforts to convince the industry that it's ready to take the software game seriously. In March, the vendor took sole control of iPlanet, a software company formed in 1998 through an alliance with Netscape-AOL (now AOL-Time Warner), and rebranded iPlanet's middleware (including its directory, application server and integration products) as Sun ONE. And in July, Schwartz,pegged as a "genius" by several industry insiders,took the helm of Sun's software business. His goal: refashion Sun into a successful Java software company.

Since then, Schwartz and Co. have been doing all they can to market Sun ONE as a formidable rival to market leaders BEA and IBM. But during Sun's fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts last month, McNealy still depicted middleware as a feature set of an entire system, not as a distinct product. "Middleware to me is stuff that used to be sold separately but should be bundled with services and upgrade capability for our big, freakin' WebTone switch," he said.

Solution providers say Schwartz has his work cut out for him. "There is a major [Sun ONE] push from Sun, but I don't think they're up to speed yet," said Paul Wilson, regional sales manager at PDC Solutions, King of Prussia, Pa. "BEA and IBM still control that market."

Mike Landry, director of technical services at Toronto solution provider Burntsand, also isn't sure Sun can sell Java software successfully. "I don't think they're ready to be a big threat because they're still climbing a hill to figure out why people buy app servers," he said. "People are still saying, 'That's a nice portal you have there, and it's an adequate app server. But I'm going to buy best-of-breed.' "

Yet Schwartz remains confident Sun will succeed in software. He said IBM achieved its Java middleware dominance mainly via deployments on Sun's Solaris operating system. To conquer IBM, Sun plans to drive market share of Solaris 9,which has a built-in Sun ONE app server and directory server,and the free, J2EE-supported version of its app server on multiple platforms, he said.

"IBM has beaten Sun in the market for app servers, but their No. 1 market is in Solaris. My voice mailbox is full of customers saying, 'I'm in the midst of an IBM quote. I want you guys to come in and tell me about your stuff,' " Schwartz said. "We believe we know the Solaris operating environment better than they do, and we fully plan on outexecuting them in the next two or three years."

SCOTT CAMPBELL & EDWARD F. MOLTZEN contributed to this story.

Tweet

   

More Channel Programs