IBM Takes On Microsoft With New ISV/Partner Initiatives

Just as Microsoft finished wooing developers at its Tech Ed conference this week, IBM on Thursday said it plans to bring more tools and development initiatives to the table, including a powerful grid computing-based virtual hardware loaner program for ISVs and partners.

IBM Vice President Scott Hebner said ISVs and VARs can access a wide variety of more powerful tools and programs to re-engineer their customers' businesses if they commit to IBM's sharply focused vertical industry strategy instead of what he called Microsoft's scatter-shot approach. "Microsoft has very little industry capability," he said.

ISVs and VARs will have to make a strategic decision on whether to partner with IBM or Microsoft in the midmarket, Hebner said, adding that they have "a lot to lose" if they select Microsoft.

The virtual loaner program could triple IBM's number of ISV partners from 400 to 1,200, Hebner said. At the IBM Virtual Loaner Program Web site, developers can designate their requirements for IBM hardware, software and storage to test their applications.

The loaner program is part of IBM's new virtual innovation center for hardware, which enables ISVs to have online access to a virtual pool of IBM resources, such as the IBM eServer and the TotalStorage family of products. IBM also said ISVs now have access to an online knowledge and enablement portal to help them build solutions based on IBM Express offerings for midsize companies.

In addition, IBM unveiled a charter called the "Partnership With Business Application ISVs," which reinforces the Armonk, N.Y.-based company's dedication to collaborating with ISVs to jointly address the market for vertical solutions.

Hebner said the key differences between IBM and Microsoft are IBM's commitment to re-engineer businesses with a vertical industry on-demand model, IBM's decision to stay out of the applications business and IBM's commitment to open standards, including Linux.

The line between ISVs and VARs is blurring, Hebner said, because of the stepped-up business process re-engineering work being done by VARs with small and midsize businesses in vertical industries. IBM's business process consulting with ISVs covers the banking, financial services, health-care, life sciences, retail and telecommunications industries.

Jack Baney, vice president of business development at Reconda International, a Norwalk, Conn.-based ISV specializing in business transaction management middleware, said the biggest advantage of partnering with IBM is the IT giant's sharp vertical solutions focus. Reconda is working with IBM in the banking sector on core transformation, wholesale payments and risk compliance management solutions. The ISV, whose applications run atop IBM's WebSphere MQ, also is interested in participating in IBM's retail and health-care solutions verticals, according to Baney.

"We are placing our bets on IBM," he said. "IBM has dominant share in the messaging space. Our experience is that Microsoft is a very small player in the enterprise environment. Most of the enterprises in the business of moving business transaction messages are doing it over WebSphere MQ."