Last Wednesday, IBM took a significant step toward redesigning its products and services for mid-sized companies. The computer giant announced that it is taking what it has learned from its Express family of software products and applying it to its other lines of business.
To launch the initiative, the company also unveiled Express versions of its hardware, software, IT services, and financing packages. Here is a quick overview of the new offerings.
- IBM eServer Integrated Platform Express for Employee Workplace--This combined hardware/software package offers WebSphere Portal Express running on an IBM xSeries server under Linux. The solution, which IBM Business Partners will customize to meet industry-specific requirements, will ship in September of this year. A similar package will ship for the iSeries by the end of this year.
- Personal Computing Division Express Program--Effective immediately, IBM is offering specific configurations of its ThinkPad notebooks, ThinkCentre desktops, and ThinkVision monitors at significantly reduced prices. Information about the program is available at the IBM.com Web site.
- WebSphere Commerce Server Express--As I explained in my article last week, WebSphere Commerce Server Express is due to ship in September of this year. Look for IBM to ship Windows, Linux on Intel, and OS/400 versions of the product.
- WebSphere MQ Express--This product, which offers a subset of the function found in WebSphere MQ, is designed to install in just five mouse clicks. IBM has not released further information about the product but intends to do so in the coming weeks.
- Express Services--IBM Global Services (IGS) launched a portfolio of Express offerings that focus on managed hosting and fixed-price implementation services. The latter category includes a new offering--Wholesale Distribution Solution for SAP--that implements a complete SAP system in as little as 10 weeks at prices starting at $300,000. In addition, IGS rebranded some of its managed hosting services as Express offerings and signaled its intent to announce additional hosting and fixed-price implementation services for multiple software vendors, including J.D. Edwards.
- Financing for IBM Express Solutions--Finally, IBM Global Financing repackaged several of its offerings for small and medium businesses under the Express banner. These include its reduced-rate financing plans and ValuePlan leasing programs.
IBM's Mid-Market Epiphany: A Look Behind the Scenes
While IBM's Express announcements are intriguing, what makes them significant is the change in thinking that has been taking place inside IBM over the last year. To put it simply, IBM has had an epiphany of sorts about mid-sized companies. That epiphany is driving it to develop a philosophy for creating products and services for the mid-market.
As those of you who have been following this column know, IBM's Express products got their start last year when the company announced Express versions of three WebSphere products: Application Server, Portal Server, and Business Connections. To determine the design points for these products, the WebSphere team interviewed IBM Business Partners that serve mid-sized companies to understand customer requirements. As a result, the WebSphere Express products represented a significant break from previous IBM software offerings, which were largely designed with enterprise customers in mind.
Since that time, the WebSphere team's mid-market interviews have become a catalyst for a minor awakening within IBM. Across the company, executives have been learning about the interviews and considering their implications for their own product and service lines. This led IBM to commission Nielsen ReelResearch earlier this year to survey mid-size companies about their requirements for IT solutions. While IBM gathered significant information about customer requirements, it also learned that two-thirds of mid-market customers believe that IT solutions are designed, developed, and priced for large companies. Moreover, most customers perceive IBM as a solution provider for enterprises, but not mid-size companies.
To change that perception, IBM is applying what it has learned from its studies in a more systematic manner across its products and services. It is asking each of its lines of business to identify products and services that they can redesign to meet mid-market requirements. At the same time, IBM is establishing internal processes to certify that redesigned products and services meet those requirements. Last Wednesday's announcements represent the latest results of these emerging processes.
In short, IBM's Express initiative is realigning the company's energies around the mid-market to a degree not seen since it announced the AS/400 in 1988. This time, however, the realignment is taking place across more divisions and product lines, a fact that bears both positive and negative implications. On the one hand, mid-market customers can expect to receive more attention and solutions from IBM. On the other hand, many of those solutions will--at least initially--vary widely in their suitability for mid-sized companies. This will occur because IBM's product groups still vary considerably in their understanding of the mid-market and their objectives for serving that market.
One area where these differences are having an impact is in the WebSphere Express product line. As I pointed out in a recent article, most WebSphere Express products are not based on WebSphere Application Server Express, but on the more complex and costly standard version of WebSphere Application Server. This makes products such as WebSphere Portal Server Express and the upcoming Commerce Server Express poor fits for many mid-size companies, particularly those with fewer than 500 employees. Many of these companies would be better served by portal and commerce products built on WebSphere Application Server Express or alternatives from other vendors.
While customers may encounter many such bumps on IBM's Express product highway, the company should be applauded for building that highway in the first place. With its growing focus on the mid-market, IBM is regaining its understanding of one of its most important customer bases. That can only benefit those customers over the long term.
Lee Kroon is a Senior Industry Analyst for Andrews Consulting Group, a firm that helps mid-sized companies manage business transformation through technology. You can reach him at
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online