As last week's article about the Jupiter project explained, Microsoft is planning to take the e-business platform market by storm with a highly integrated Web development and runtime environment. That platform will ultimately encompass many of the software giant's server products as well as its Office desktop application suite. In this article, I explain how Microsoft intends to make those products revolve around Jupiter.
The Phases of Jupiter
Like any journey to a distant planet, Microsoft's mission to Jupiter will be a long one that involves multiple phases. However, much of the work will take place during two phases that will take roughly two years to complete.
During the first phase of Jupiter, which bears the code name "Voyager," Microsoft will deliver BizTalk Server 2004. This product, which is already available in a beta version, features tighter integration with Visual Studio .NET 2003 and the new Visual Studio Tools for Office product.
As the end product of Voyager, BizTalk Server 2004 will enable Windows developers to write .NET application components and then string them together as a series of Web services to automate complete business processes. For instance, BizTalk Server 2004 will let developers define a workflow in which a credit check Web service initiates a product shipment Web service if a buyer has a clean credit record, but it routes questionable records to a customer service agent in an Office document. After contacting the buyer, the agent could add information to the Office document and resubmit it to the credit check Web service for processing.
Microsoft plans to ship BizTalk Server 2004 by the end of this year or during the first quarter of next year at the latest. Meanwhile, the software giant is ramping up the next phase of Jupiter, which it has code named "Discovery." During this phase, Microsoft will replace the workflow engines in its Commerce Server and Content Management Server products with the workflow engine in BizTalk 2004. This will enable the three products to work together as a seamless runtime environment for e-commerce and content management applications. Microsoft plans to offer the three products as an integrated bundle that could be available in a beta version by the end of 2004.
Beyond the Voyager and Discovery phases of Jupiter, other phases will integrate additional products into Microsoft's e-business platform. In 2005, for instance, SharePoint Portal Server will likely inherit the BizTalk workflow engine and become part of the Jupiter family. Some sources in Microsoft are also saying that Exchange Server could get the same treatment. In addition, Jupiter will gradually incorporate pieces of Host Integration Server, Microsoft's bundle of tools for connecting Windows systems to non-Windows databases and applications. This will allow Jupiter to act as an e-business front-end to systems running on mainframes, UNIX servers, and IBM's iSeries.
Jupiter Rising--The Cosmic Consequences
While Jupiter still lacks the mass of its planetary namesake, it has the long-term potential to dwarf much of its competition. If Microsoft delivers a highly integrated development and runtime platform that makes it easy to automate and Web-enable business processes, it could win over thousands of small and medium-size businesses that currently find e-business solutions too difficult and expensive. That could toss a monkey wrench into the plans of IBM, BEA, Sun, and other Java vendors who are simplifying their e-business platforms to fit mid-market requirements.
As an IBM customer, you should understand that Jupiter could have a particularly severe impact on IBM's WebSphere Express program. While the WebSphere Express family of products is winning over many mid-market software vendors, those vendors still represent a tiny fraction of the Windows developers in the world. As Jupiter takes shape, this larger body of developers will create a significant body of Windows-based e-business solutions for the platform. Since the interfaces to these solutions will be the Office applications that virtually every knowledge worker uses, their appeal will be obvious and palpable.
In addition, Jupiter could take a big bite out of IBM's Domino franchise. For years, Domino has distinguished itself from Exchange by virtue of its superior workflow and document management capabilities. However, as Jupiter integrates the workflow capabilities of BizTalk Server into Microsoft's front-office applications, much of that advantage could disappear.
Of course, many IBM product managers are aware of the threat that Jupiter poses. At the same time, I rarely get the sense when talking with them that they understand the urgency of their situation. If IBM is to compete effectively with Jupiter for mid-market accounts, it must act now to create a fully integrated and aggressively priced WebSphere Express platform instead of the "piece parts" solutions currently in place. Such a platform must include facilities for e-commerce, content management, workflow management, and portal solutions. It must simplify the development of those solutions rather than subject in-house programmers to the daunting complexity of existing Java development environments. Just as importantly, WebSphere Express solutions should be capable of interfacing with users via both browsers and the Office applications they use every day.
I realize that I am giving IBM a tall order to fill and very little time to fill it. However, Big Blue needs to understand that as Jupiter grows, it will acquire a gravitational pull that will suck complexity-averse customers away from IBM unless it offers them an equally simple and productive platform. If IBM is serious about the mid-market, it should apply all available energy to making such a platform a reality.
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
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