IONA Builds Its Own Registry/Repository

On March 26th IONA Technologies announced the availability of IONA Artix Registry/Repository, the latest product in IONA Artix, the company's advanced SOA infrastructure suite.

Recommended Competitive Responses

► BEA should promote the fact that it has moved beyond reselling the Systinet product and now ships a complete registry / repository solution (BEA AquaLogic Service Registry), thanks to its acquisition late last summer of repository vendor Flashline.

► Software AG should point out that it’s CentraSite registry / repository solution (developed jointly with Fujitsu) is able to speak with SOA solutions from over 20 different vendors and can be queried from a variety of technologies such as AJAX and WebDAV.

► SOA suite competitors such as IBM, Sun, Oracle and others should position IONA’s IARR as an IONA-centric product that will slowly grow in interoperability, advising customers in need of a SOA solution with a registry to opt for their more comprehensive and interoperable SOA solutions.

► HP should point out that while IONA plans on marketing IARR as a standalone product that it is not likely to be positioned as a direct competitor to Systinet. A much more plausible scenario will be for IARR to be introduced into an existing Systinet installation and vice versa.

► Cape Clear and Jboss should strongly consider expanding their product lines to include registry/repository functionality through either partnership or internal development.

► All competitors should monitor IONA’s integration of technology acquired from data transformation vendor C24 earlier this year as this will give the company an advantages within select vertical markets (starting with the financial sector) in need of a registry / repository-based regulatory compliance solution.

Recommended End User/Customer Responses

► Given IONA’s pricing, which is commensurate with its Artix model (pricing based upon the number of services deployed, existing IONA customers should actively pursue IARR test deployments. This especially applies to existing IONA customers just starting up SOA solutions or currently deploying smaller solutions with fewer than 50 or 100 services, where the company’s sliding price point will make adoption of a registry / repository primarily an architectural rather than a financial decision.

► Potential customers currently utilizing competing ESB platforms should watch IONA closely but hold off on actively testing IARR until the company can publish a detailed roadmap for completing internal integration Similarly, potential and existing IONA customers utilizing or looking to utilize IONA Celtix should press IONA for a timeline regarding complete IARR support of Celtix end-points.

Business Objects Moves Boldly into BI Appliances

On March 14th Business Objects announced the Business Objects Open Appliance Initiative (OAI), a new global partner network designed to offer customers an array of appliances for deploying integrated business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing (DW) solutions.

Recommended Competitive Responses

► Now that Business Objects has upped the ante in the BI appliance segment, Cognos/Celequest should rethink its product, partner, and go-to-market strategies. It should begin to engage with the same core group of hardware and channel partners that figure into the Business Objects-led Open Appliance Initiative.

► Having failed to achieve significant traction with its first-mover BI Accelerator appliance (announced less than a year ago), SAP should consider changing its appliance strategy.

► BI vendors that have no appliance products or announced strategies in this regard should immediately begin to evaluate the appliance delivery model, and the shift in product development and partnering that it requires. Increasingly, more BI, DW, DI, and DQ functionality will be offered through multiple channels, including packaged software, SaaS, and purpose-built appliances. Rivals such as Oracle, Microsoft, SAS, Information Builders, and MicroStrategy are now playing catch-up in this new market landscape.

Recommended End User/Customer Responses

► Business Objects customers that use its traditional software-only XI, Crystal Decisions, and other products should begin to evaluate the partner appliance products. Customers should use the same core criteria to evaluate these appliances that they use to evaluate the equivalent packaged-software and SaaS solutions: price-performance, functionality, flexibility, scalability, manageability, integration, customizability, and so forth.

► Prospects that are gravitating toward appliance-based BI or DW solutions should begin to explore the offerings being rolled out by Business Objects partners such as IBM, Netezza, and DATAllegro. Prospects should evaluate these integrated appliances against each other, and also against deployment scenarios wherein customers acquire DW appliances and then integrate them with their preferred BI tool.

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHT

Software AG Makes SOA Play, Set to Acquire webMethods

On April 5th Software AG, Europe's largest systems software and Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) provider, and webMethods, Inc., a leading business integration and optimization software company, announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Software AG to acquire webMethods in a cash tender offer for $9.15 per share or approximately $546 million.

Analytical Summary

► Current Perspective: Very positive on Software AG’s acquisition of webMethods as this acquisition will infuse Software AG with much needed SOA expertise and technology, extend its reach into the U.S. market, and create long term cross-sales opportunities within webMethods’ complementary customer base.

► Vendor Importance: High to Software AG because in order to achieve its stated goal of doubling its revenue by 2011 through SOA offerings, the company needed to expand its reach beyond Western Europe and Asia as well as create the technical foundation necessary to carry forward its active governance-centric vision of SOA enablement and application modernization.

► Market Impact: Very high on the SOA and integration markets. Immediately, the combined company resources will extend Software AG’s active customer base to 4,000 companies over two continents within eight vertical industries, increasing pressure on established competitors. Over the longer terms, if Software AG is able to grow its professional services offerings as planned and successfully rationalize the two product lines, the company stands a very good chance of becoming another global powerhouse able to compete with the likes of Oracle, Sun, and IBM in terms of reach and capability.

Recommended Competitor Actions

► Competitors should take advantage of the uncertainty within Software AG and webMethods’ combined customer base stemming from this announcement. Competitors should point out the key fact that while the resulting company presents a much stronger financial picture than either company alone, that combined company won’t be able to leverage this collective strength until it has fully rationalized both overlapping product lines…something that will take at least nine to twelve months after the acquisition closes.

► Global firms including IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, Sun, and TIBCO should position this announced acquisition as a play for SOA market share built not upon complementary technologies but upon complementary customers. In other words, the Software AG that emerges from this acquisition will not have any major cross-sell wins with webMethods’ customers, though webMethods’ Optimize for Process may offer an immediate opportunity for Software AG customers.

► Competing vendors with strong post-sale integration services should call attention to the fact that Software AG is currently retooling its professional services organization. This will certainly benefit from an infusion of intellectual capital from webMethods in the long run, but for now, Software AG’s efforts will be hampered until the company has rationalized product lines and settled upon a single deliverable.

► Rival SOA vendors without highly unified tooling should immediately prioritize the development of design and development offerings that are both Eclipsed-based and able to work in concert with BAM/BPM and registry/repository software, facilitating run-time business process optimization. This will be a key differentiator for Software AG.

Recommended End User / Customer Actions

► Existing webMethods and Software AG customers should rest assured that Software AG will continue current support contracts and provide support for existing software deployments. However, all customers should press Software AG to provide a detailed roadmap concerning its product rationalization objectives with details on upgrade paths from existing products.

► Potential customers of both webMethods and Software AG interested in deploying simple messaging and integration software should continue evaluation and pilot efforts with the knowledge that regardless of the final product configuration settled upon, these mature offerings will likely remain intact technologically.

► All existing webMethods customers should view this acquisition in a positive light, as it will engender considerable financial stability. Similarly, existing Software AG customers should welcome this acquisition because it will eventually make a tremendous amount of SOA expertise available through consulting, support, and training services. Both customers should react to this acquisition positively but reserve judgment until Software AG has voiced its six, nine, and twelve month product plans.