Loyalty, Support Set Platform Apart

Microsoft, with its Windows 2000 Advanced Server, jumped from third place in last year's results to the No. 1 perch in the category. The Redmond software king beat out its Unix-based rivals, including last year's No. 1, Hewlett-Packard, which most notably fared poorly in the area of partnership. Partners knocked the company for not being easy to do business with and mismanaging channel conflict. For its part, Novell, and its once-dominant NetWare OS, continued a downward slide from second to third place in the overall rankings. On a positive note, Novell ranked tops in product innovation.

Partners say Microsoft's high scores reflect technical improvements and the ease of deployment in Windows Server, along with the cost savings customers gain through server consolidation. They also cite Microsoft's renewed commitment to sales and technical support.

"A couple of years ago, we rarely saw a [Microsoft] rep at all, and now we have a dedicated one," says Keith Ackerman, marketing director and CIO at software consultant Software One, a Microsoft partner in New Berlin, Wis. "Their claims for the product are also accurate with respect to performance and the fact that you can get more done on fewer boxes."

The great, big elephant in the room, of course, is Linux, which has captured up to 25 percent market share, according to studies by the likes of Gartner. In the year ahead, how Linux will impact its Unix brethren and Microsoft's momentum among partners will be a key race to watch.

Rounding out the category, Sun and SCO swapped spots at the bottom of the rankings this year, with Sun bringing up the rear and SCO rising to fourth place. Interestingly, SCO garnered both the lowest score for its scant marketing support and the highest for product quality and reliability.