astro posted on March 19, 2010 07:15
In managing staff and raising kids, I have learned that every action results in a reaction. So it didn’t surprise me when IBM queued up its response to the recent announcement from Microsoft that it was discontinuing Essential Business Server (EBS). What’s interesting in the IBM press release and comments I share below provided by IBM (where I am not a shareholder) is that is conceptual links the cloud strategy as a contributing factor to the demise of EBS. It also gives a respectful nod to Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), which I thought was mighty friendly. I really like the hybrid strategy conversation below as I truly believe that is the future of SMB computing (imagine in the Microsoft world windows Home Server or windows Essentials + BPOS). I thought that part of the comments from IBM were spot on!
I need to digest this press announcement more and will have a follow-up post. I need to look at LotusLive. I will be meeting with Google today in Mountain View enroute to the San Jose airport and my return home. In the next day or so – I’ll have a follow-up, more in-depth blog that rolls-up all that parties. Needless to say – you’ll find me commenting that IBM Lotus, Google and Microsoft are now “all in!”
Here is the good news. There is more channel choice than ever for the Joe the computer guy and Jane the computer grrl. I’m thrilled that the SMB server-side is getting so much attention. As they say, any publicity is good publicity! More than a few of my readers remember that dark days a decade ago when people believed that “SMB” meant “server messaging blocks”
What follows are the comments/press release from IBM. These are unedited except for paragraph one and two where I corrected the length of life for EBS. It originally read “one year” but the reality is it was just under two year (18-month or so to be exact).
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On March 7, Microsoft announced on its blog (
http://blogs.technet.com/essentialbusinessserver/archive/2010/03/05/new-it-trends-bring-change-to-mid-market-product-line.aspx
) that it would discontinue Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) after
just under two years in the market and five years in production. Microsoft
attributed this, in part, to shifting customer preferences and the greater
"efficiencies of the cloud," intimating that many Microsoft partners and
customers were opting for BPOS instead.
During the time that EBS was in market, IBM launched LotusLive, a cloud
service suite that has attracted over 18 million users. The LotusLive
partner program was established in January of this year and has drawn
more than 200 partners in its first two months. Also over the past year,
well over 1,000 Microsoft business partners flocked to IBM to offer its
Lotus Foundations self-managing appliance package alongside or instead of
Microsoft EBS and SBS. IBM's hybrid strategy of providing both on-premise
and cloud-based IT services that can work autonomously or together is
clearly gaining traction. Now IBM is further enriching Foundations with an
integrated database.
Perhaps it was the cloud that killed EBS -- and shifting customer
preferences --- but Microsoft may not have have presented the full story.
IBM Adds 200 Partners to LotusLive Cloud Services
Delivers Optimized System for Small and Medium Business Collaboration
ARMONK, NY, March 19, 2010 --- IBM today announced more than 200 partners
are planning to sell to their customers LotusLive cloud services. The news
comes in just two months since the introduction of the LotusLive partner
program as evidence of increasing migration to the cloud for collaboration
capabilities.
New integrated solutions from partners, including Silanis and Skype, are
bringing LotusLive to new global customers in the insurance, banking and
other industries around the world. In addition, LotusLive has many other
market leading partners including PGi, Intercall, Ascendant, Insight, and
Integrasys to name a few.
As part of today's news, IBM is also extending the capabilities of Lotus
Foundations by integrating DB2 Express database software into the core
appliance offering free of charge to better serve SMB customers. There is
no database size limit, no limit on the number of instances or databases
per server and no restriction on the number of users.
The news reinforces IBM's commitment to SMB customers who require IT
solutions that are easy to use and acquire. These developments are
appealing to Microsoft customers and partners in the wake of Microsoft's
discontinuation of its flagship offering for SMB, Windows Essential
Business Server. Microsoft announced its withdrawal on March 7, leaving
partners and customers looking for alternatives.
"We can rely on IBM to address our midmarket customer needs unlike
Microsoft who has left us in the cold with this abrupt withdrawal of
Enterprise Business Server", said Bernie Leung, CEO of MESA Technology. "I
will invest more with our IBM partnership and guide Small Business Server
customers to move to IBM since I don't see how resellers can make money or
avoid channel conflict with Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite."
"Whether it's in the cloud with LotusLive or on-premise with Lotus
Foundations, IBM is making information technology easier to use for
customers and simpler to provide for partners," said Alistair Rennie,
General Manager, IBM Lotus Software, "through a hybrid cloud and on-premise
delivery model."
A Cloudy Future
Many businesses are migrating to the cloud -- the IBM cloud. In fact,
IBM's LotusLive collaboration cloud has attracted more than 18 million
users from businesses of all sizes within its first year. LotusLive
delivers a full range of collaborative services including cloud-based
email, web conferencing, instant messaging, file sharing, relationship
management and project tracking, enabling people to work with anyone from
anywhere, in any company or organization. Benefitting from the
cost-efficiencies of the cloud, LotusLive also offers the reliable,
scalable and private business support for which IBM is known.
"We saw what was already out in the market and we wanted to offer the
best-of-breed in a subscription-based model," said Shoby John, CEO of
Integrasys. " LotusLive represents that."
IBM is also offering clients and partners free trials of several cloud
services. Some trials have expanded from 15 to 30 days covering LotusLive
Meetings, LotusLive Connections, LotusLive iNotes and LotusLive Engage, all
of which are capable of working together as a seamless suite.
LotusLive Engage encompasses the full range of LotusLive collaboration
services combining social networking, Web conferencing, file storing and
sharing, instant messaging and activity management.
LotusLive Meetings is an integrated online Web conferencing service
always available for use and designed with security as a top priority.
LotusLive Connections is an innovative set of Web-based collaboration
services combined with social networking capabilities, featuring file
sharing, business instant messaging, activity management and networking.
LotusLive iNotes, starting at just $3 per user per month, is IBM's
flexible yet secure cloud mail service that blends reliability and
privacy.
"LotusLive allows people to go to a hybrid model that allows you to
collaborate within your company but also go outside the firewall. Another
key benefit of cloud technology is the immediacy of the service. You go
online and within 13 seconds your collaborating with the world," said
Raymond Sembler, senior vice president, PGi.
For more information on LotusLive, visit: https://www.lotuslive.com/en/
IBM Bolsters Support for SMB
IBM is announcing enhancements to Lotus Foundations with the integration of
DB2 Express-C as part of the offering. Software application providers
can also take advantage of autonomic features making their applications
easier to manage and deploy without on-site IT support.
Now business partners and application developers can develop and deploy, at
no charge, applications that require a high performance, highly reliable
and scalable database. Along with support for all leading programming
languages, development environments, and the open SQL standard, the DB2
software also includes advanced features such as native XML support, and
enterprise grade security for compliance with demanding government and
industry regulations. DB2 Express-C is fully integrated with Lotus
Foundations user management and backup processes to deliver hands-off
operations that are required for midmarket solutions.
IBM's hybrid solution platform allows application providers to rapidly
build and integrate their applications, delivering them on-premise using a
hardware appliance and in the cloud through LotusLive. This allows small
business and midmarket users to focus on their business priorities and work
smarter without worrying about IT and where the content resides.
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