BCD Attains ServerProven Status with Clover

Published: May 22, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Application development tool maker and middleware software supplier Business Computer Design said late last week that its new Clover iSeries and System i5 query and reporting tool has received IBM's ServerProven blessing, which means that companies that deploy this solution in conjunction with a new System i5 machine are entitled to substantial rebates.

A systems program or application with ServerProven status means that it has been certified on IBM's latest System i5 hardware and i5/OS V5R4 software and is running in at least one real account. After attaining ServerProven status, IBM and a product vendor enter into a co-marketing exercise, with the main goodie being a rebate of between $250 and $68,000 for end user companies that buy ServerProven software on a new iSeries or i5 machine. (In Europe, when pushing certain ServerProven applications, both the customer and the ISV each get the rebate in U.S. dollars, which obviously has the effect of making the ISVs extremely motivated to sell a new solution on a new server to a new customer.) BCD has already got the ServerProven seal on its WebSmart application server, its Nexus portal, its Catapult report generator and document management software, and its ProGen Plus program generator and report writer.

BCD started previewing Clover last fall and started shipping on St Patrick's Day. The $10,000 per-server license has unlimited user and developer access, and customers who are using BCD's WebSmart application server and development tool can get clover for $5,950 under a special promotion. If you add in the ServerProven rebates, this can really lower the cost of acquiring the Clover product.

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