Microsoft Ships BizTalk Server 2006 R2

On September 10th, Microsoft announced the general availability of BizTalk Server 2006 R2, the company’s core service-oriented architecture (SOA) and business process management (BPM) technology. This product includes advancements for radio frequency identification (RFID) and electronic data interchange (EDI), as well as extended interoperability such as enterprise service bus (ESB) guidance and line-of-business adapters.

Analytical Summary

► Current Perspective: Positive on Microsoft’s announcement of the general availability of its keystone SOA integration platform, BizTalk Server 2006 R2, because with this release, Microsoft is seeking to reach the “last mile” for its customers, traversing typical firewall boundaries, where business processes touch customers and partners. To that end, the company has added a number of standards and capabilities designed to appeal to branch office and supply chain customers.

► Vendor Importance: Very high to Microsoft, which relies heavily upon BizTalk as a foundational solution within its Connected Systems Division, because the updates and new technologies introduced with this release move the product forward in concert with Microsoft’s .NET 3.0 framework and a number of new opportunities within the B2B integration space with the addition of native EDI and AS2 support.

► Market Impact: Moderate to high on the application infrastructure market, specifically the SOA and integration software and services segments, where Microsoft continues to leverage its strong integration capabilities. By aggressively adopting support for RFID and the B2B integration protocols EDI and AS2, the company has sent a strong message to B2B providers that it intends to leverage BizTalk Server outside the traditional corporate firewall boundaries. Traditional SOA rivals, however, can look beyond this release for a stronger ESB competitor from Microsoft.

| Client Access - Application Infrastructure |

Cognos Enlists Informatica as Key Data Quality Partner for CPM

On September 10th Cognos announced that it had expanded its existing strategic relationship with Informatica. Under terms of the non-exclusive relationship, Cognos will resell the Informatica Data Quality (IDQ) data-cleansing product and the Informatica Data Explorer (IDE) data profiling product worldwide in conjunction with Cognos’ corporate performance management (CPM) application portfolio.

Recommended Competitor Actions

► Leading CPM/BI rivals with their own branded DQ offerings—in particular, Business Objects and SAS—should position the expanded Cognos/Informatica DQ-focused partnership as “too little, too late.”

► Leading CPM/BI rivals with embedded, internally developed DQ features and/or strong partnerships with third-party DQ/DI vendors should stress that Cognos’ ramped-up Informatica partnership is primarily focused on resale of the latter’s solutions, with no clear joint-development roadmap.

► Any CPM/BI vendors that lack their own branded DQ offerings, DI-embedded DQ features, or high-profile best-of-breed DQ partners should promptiy develop a clear strategy for bringing this critical functionality into their product portfolios.

Recommended End User/Customer Actions

► Cognos’ customers should greet the expanded Infomatica partnership as evidence that Cognos is committed to weaving DQ more completely, both through integrated/certified solutions and professional services, into its CPM go-to-market strategy. Nevertheless, Cognos customers should still continue to evaluate Informatica’s tools alongside strong rival offerings from IBM, Business Objects, SAS/DataFlux, Harte-Hanks Trillium Software, and Pitney Bowes Software—all of which can be deployed in conjunction with DW/DI/CPM/BI powered by Cognos and other vendors.

► Cognos’ existing CPM users that are initiating a DQ project should begin discussions with the vendor’s newly created DQ professional services group. However, Cognos CPM customers should expect several months of lag time before Cognos’ new DQ services squad can initiate work on any DQ assessment/deployment project, pending their ongoing training/certification by Informatica. In the meantime, they should consider working with Informatica directly (on a passthrough basis in coordination with their Cognos account rep) until Cognos’ consultants are fully ready.

► Prospects that are looking for a strategic CPM/BI/DW/DI vendor that has strong, platform-integrated DQ features should put Cognos on their list, based on its existing integration with Informatica’s tools and promise of deeper integration in the not-too-distant future. However, bear in mind that CPM/BI vendors such as Business Objects, SAS/DataFlux, Oracle/Hyperion, and SAP/Outlooksoft have DQ tools, features, and/or professional services comparable to the current or promised Informatica-powered Cognos offerings.

| Client Access - Data Management |

IBM Readies Its Desktop of the Future with Lotus Notes and Domino 8 Release

On August 17th IBM announced that after two years in development and testing by more than 25,000 businesses around the world, Lotus Notes 8 and Lotus Domino 8 will be generally available now.

Recommended Competitor Actions

► Rival firms with desktop applications (particularly Microsoft and Sun) should position IBM’s Lotus Notes and Domino 8 release as only scratching the surface of the combined capabilities available through the company’s various Web 2.0/collaboration tools (Connections, Sametime, Quickr and Portal).

► Sun should seek to unify and leverage its newly released client environment, Java FX, along with its collaboration and desktop solutions, including Java Communications Suite, Star Office Suite and Web Developer Pack

► Microsoft should continue to focus its efforts on combining human workflow and Web 2.0 collaborative capabilities within its Office product suite without losing site of its Sliverlight managed client platform. With its market leading customer base for Exchange and collaborative work already done via SharePoint Server, Microsoft is well positioned to beat IBM to the punch in providing a truly universal collaboration experience.

► Application infrastructure vendor lacking desktop productivity and collaboration application (such as Oracle, TIBCO, BEA and Software AG) should continue to focus their energies on back end solutions in support of the Web 2.0 and RIA market. While companies like Microsoft and IBM will be able to leverage their significant messaging customer bases, both companies are vulnerable on the server side, where competitors, utilizing industry standards, can create solutions that augment desktop applications, such as an application server tailored to running Domino and J2EE applications.

Recommended End User/Customer Actions

► Existing Lotus Notes and Domino customers should truly welcome these new product updates. IBM has gone a long way to ensure that no new hardware will be required for an upgrade. And the company has created a series of freely available features that are normally only available with other products that extend the basic capabilities via Portal and Connections.

► Existing Lotus Notes and Domino customers currently employing SOA practices and technologies (particularly those utilizing the Eclipse development framework and platform) should actively pursue this release as it allows Domino to become a true customer of Web services. Domino applications will be able to call standard Web services, and Domino can provision composite applications as well.

► Existing Expeditor and Lotus Notes and Domino customers should bear in mind that if they wish to make use of Lotus Sametime and Lotus Connections capabilities, they will need to purchase the appropriate licenses to do so.

► Potential customers employing Visual Basic applications who are interested in creating plug-ins and composite applications that can run across disparate platforms, should strongly consider the Expeditor managed client platform. This client framework, toolkit and server product family has been designed to facilitate the migration of Visual Basic code to J2EE.

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