IBM reckons Microsoft has had it to easy in the Small to Mid Market sector. Back in January they bought Nitix, a small Canadian outfit, that have built a self propelling server (Lotus Foundations) around a customised Linux disti. The Nitix box does everything (and more) that the corresponding MS product does:- Full featured software appliance
- Self-managing, self-healing system
- Email and advanced webmail
- Office productivity tools
- Network level firewall, antispam & antivirus protection
- Remote connectivity and VPN
- File and print services
- Central file management
- Automated disk backup
- Disaster recovery
IBM pronounce that the whole think can be up and running in 30 mins via a Web UI and can support up to 500 individuals. Good stuff. My colleague Gareth is blogging on this so it will be interesting to see through him how it progresses.
I don't think MS will be quaking in their boots, however it does offer small businesses a fully featured offering that hangs together as a logical entity rather than the mish-mash of services they are struggling with at the moment.
A key do this will for someone to to some realistic comparative pricing, the wallet is a great motivator for most small companies.
Lastly, if IBM can do a deal with Dell then the show will truly be on the road.
Comments (2)
The Empire strikes back? I prefer Asimov's 'Foundation and Empire' as a literary allusion. Either way I think IBM is on to a good thing here but I think they would prefer to bundle Foundations with their own X-Series servers rather than with Dell's products.
Posted by Graham Dodge | June 27, 2008 1:27 PM
Posted on June 27, 2008 13:27
I like mixed metaphors....
Knowing IBM Graham, it will be more like Second Foundation :-) As for X-series I think you have to remember the target market, I cannot see X-series having a lot of traction with SMB whereas Dell almost owns that sector.
Posted by Ian White | June 27, 2008 1:58 PM
Posted on June 27, 2008 13:58