IBM Makes Strides Toward SOA
Type: Competitive Intelligence Report
Analyst: S. Willett
Report Date: May 13, 2005
Module: Application Infrastructure
ID: CIR13767 |
Current Perspective: Positive/Neutral
Vendor Importance: Moderate
Market Impact: Moderate |
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Summary
Event Summary
May 11, 2005 -- IBM and Lawson Software announced that Lawson will optimize and standardize its comprehensive business applications portfolio on IBM's open standards-based software and hardware, and the companies will jointly market pre-integrated solutions to customers. As part of the expanded strategic alliance, the two companies will also develop and market new vertical offerings to help customers address their business challenges across industries including healthcare, retail, government, education, financial services, and other service sector markets.
Analytical Summary
• Current Perspective: Slightly positive on IBM’s new service oriented architecture (SOA) programs and its relationship with Lawson, as the Lawson deal is another large ISV win for IBM, although the firm needs more work on its SOA product portfolio.
• Vendor Importance: Moderate to IBM as the Lawson deal will bring in new users and the SOA programs will attract some large firms looking for guidance on SOA infrastructures.
• Market Impact: Moderate as IBM’s latest SOA programs will provoke a response from competitors who already are preparing numerous services and training programs around SOAs.
Target Markets
End Users, Global 2000, IT Implementers, Resellers/Channels, Systems Integrators
Perspective
Current Perspective Positive/Neutral
We are taking a slightly positive stance on IBM’s mix of announcements around its “SOA Summit” that it hopes will influence corporate users to turn to WebSphere as the platform for building service oriented architectures. While the Lawson OEM agreement is undoubtedly a boon for IBM, its SOA services are being duplicated by competitors. The firm has some work to do to fill out SOA specific products.
With the major architectural shift to a SOA, it is inevitable that vendors would have a host of professional services to help users get there. In some cases these will be a profit center for the firms (IGS I particular), and in other cases, the services particularly the assessments, will be offered at little in the hope that users will turn to their technology to help them get to the state of SOA nirvana (those coming out of BEA and IBM’s WebSphere division fall into that category).
IBM has been a leader in SOA services and continues this with the announcements around its SOA summit. The firm has now released an SOA “self assessment” tool, essentially a Q&A that produces a “maturity level” of the customer and recommendations about how to proceed with a Business Integration Adoption Model that will get them to a mature SOA.. Also, the company’s WebSphere division will offer more education about SOAs, including technical training for architects and developers. IBM is also offering a unique no charge “SOA Jumpstart” program, which includes two days of onsite assessment. An SOA Integration Framework, essentially a technical guide for building an SOA that comes free with purchase of IBM technology and services. The firm has also promised industry specific versions of SOA frameworks, and industry specific training and guidance for building SOAs.
Also announced, although only vaguely related to SOA services is a new OEM relationship with ERP vendor Lawson that has Lawson beginning to move its applications from a proprietary application server to WebSphere Application server over the next six to 12 months. In particular the 8.1.1 release will run on WebSphere Application Server (WAS), and make use of DB2, and Tivoli Directory Server. While WBI will not be directly embedded, there will be enough optimization and connectors to make it an attractive option for users. This could help Lawson users turn to WBI/WAS as a platform to build SOAs. It also helps IBM recover the loss of PeopleSoft users, which will increasingly turn to Oracle’s Fusion platform for middleware as Oracle pushes its platform.
On the downside, these announcements were really a hodgepodge of technology, new services, new training, and new ISV alliances—which take focus away from the (assumed) main objective of building up IBM’s stature of a provider of SOA Expertise. While IBM now has a broad range of SOA type services training (from both IGS and the WebSphere software division), its competitors have also debuted extensive SOA training, education and services. This includes SAP, BEA (which has its own SOA self assessment), and Oracle. This is becoming less of a differentiator for IBM. More specifically, IBM is weak on products for SOA management and does not have a specific “ESB” product. The firm should consider SOA management, either through Tivoli or a separate product. It should also consider implementing UDDI 3.0 as an organizing force, and should consider an ESB product that users WS-x standards and technologies, without a message broker.
IBM’s moves in the SOA services space should be matched by competitors, through internal programs or partnerships. It is likely that many of these SOA services will be along vertical lines. Vendors should consider backing these up with specific SOA management products and ESB products.
Positives and Concerns
Competitive Positives
• IBM embarks on its “SOA Summit” and makes a number of announcements that it hopes will influence corporate users to turn to WebSphere as the platform for building SOAs. This includes new ISV relationships, new technology, and new training/consulting type programs. Although not seemingly related, the moves were announced as part of a new effort to define the benefits of SOAs to both business and technical users, provide technologies and training to help users get to an SOA so they can start reaping the ROI. The moves follow IGS training and consulting programs centered around SOAs (see “IBM’s SOMA Bridges SOAs and IT,” January 27, 2005).
• IBM announces an OEM relationship with ERP vendor Lawson that has Lawson beginning to move its applications from a proprietary application server to WebSphere Application server over the next six to 12 months. In particular the 8.1.1 release will run on WebSphere Application Server (WAS), and make use of DB2, and Tivoli Directory Server. After that there will be WebSphere portlets from Lawson, and WBI adapters, and Tivoli license Manager. While WBI will not be directly embedded, there will enough optimization and connectors to make it an attractive option for users. This could persuade Lawson users turn to WBI/WAS as a platform to build SOAs. It also helps IBM recover the loss of PeopleSoft users, which will increasingly turn to Oracle’s Fusion platform for middleware as Oracle pushes their platform. IBM/Lawson will also develop and market new vertical offerings to help customers address their business challenges across industries including healthcare, retail, government, education, financial services, and other service sector markets
• The firm releases an SOA “self assessment” tool, essentially a Q&A that produces a “maturity level” and recommendations about how to proceed with a Business Integration Adoption Model that will get to an SOA. Also, the company’s WebSphere division will offer more education about SOAs, including technical training for architects and developers.
• IBM is offering a unique, no charge “SOA Jumpstart” program, which includes two days of onsite assessment from IBM reps that help users understand where they are in terms of an SOA and how to get to their final destination. This is complemented by an SOA Integration Framework, essentially a technical guide for building an SOA that comes free with purchase of IBM technology and services. The firm has also promised industry specific versions of SOA frameworks, and industry specific training and guidance for building SOAs.
• On the technology side, the company is providing some additional details about its recently acquired Ascential product, DataStage TX. The firm intends to keep the transformation functionality and link it into the WBI integration broker. This will be technically easy since there was already a MQ adapter for DataStage TX.
Competitive Concerns
• The announcements were really a hodgepodge of technology, new services, new training, and new ISV alliances. Taken together they only loosely suggest a better plan for customers implementing SOAs.
• While IBM now has a broad range of SOA type services training (from both IGS and the WebSphere software division), its competitors have also debuted extensive SOA training, education, and services. This includes SAP, BEA (which as its own SOA self assessment), and Oracle. This is becoming less of a differentiator for IBM.
• The Lawson deal is not exclusive and there is the distinct possibility that this firm will port to other J2EE servers once it has done the WebSphere port, or bring in middleware from other firms, especially if it is unhappy with the license terms for any reason.
• IBM is weak on products for SOA management and does not have a specific “ESB” product. There is the possibility of using Tivoli for SOA management, but the firm has not really given details on that. Also, there is evidence that UDDI 3.0 could be an organizing force for managing SOAs, and that the WS-x standards could give rise to a new breed of ESB products. IBM has not really addressed those trends at all.
• IBM has given few details on the industry specific SOA integration templates. Meanwhile, competitors such as BEA have already rolled out some vertical self assessments.
Recommended Actions
Recommended Vendor Actions
• IBM should consider SOA management products, to bolster its claim that it provides the tools necessary to build and manage an SOA. This could be through the Tivoli product, or through a separate offering. IBM should even consider an acquisition in this space to bolster this functionality.
• Further the company should consider UDDI 3.0 as way to manage services, including user access, quality of service, failover, priorities, and so forth. Again, this could be a separate product or through Tivoli.
• IBM should eventually consider an ESB type of product that makes use of the emerging set of WS-x standards and doesn’t necessarily include any established messaging bus or integration broker.
• IBM now has a large number of SOA related education training type services from both IGS and WebSphere. It should ensure that these don’t overlap.
• The firm should give additional details on its industry specific SOA implementation templates.
Recommended Competitor Actions
• Competitors in the application server and integration spaces should consider their own SOA training, assessment, methodology, and other services, if they haven’t already. These should include accommodations for third party technology.
• Competitors should consider vertical specific assessments, guidelines, and implementation methodologies, if they haven’t already.
• Firms with more limited professional services staffs, should partner with larger SIs for these types of high level assessments, and SOA architectural services.
• Competitors should consider SOA management/configuration products as well as ESB type products.
Recommended End User / Customer Actions
• End users who are interested in implementation SOAs should consider self-assessments, training, and guidelines. Users should keep in mind specific ROI objectives and have a way to monitor these.
• Users should ensure that there is in fact some level of reuse of services in an SOA, and that they are not just duplicating point to point integration within the context of a SOAP/WSDL connection.
• Users should consider a process layer as a crucial element to gaining ROI out of SOAs.
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