But Wait, There's More. . .

• Buell Duncan, general manager of IBM's iSeries business, said he supports changing the way IBM charges for iSeries interactive processing during an iSeries Nation "chatting with iSeries customers" teleconference last week. The so-called interactive software tax has been a contentious issue among users of the OS/400 platform since 1997, when interactive features made their debut, but until recently IBM has made little indication that it intends to change its approach. In responding to a direct question about interactive pricing from a self-described "loyal" AS/400 user who said he felt betrayed by IBM's "price gouging," Duncan's said, in part, "The long-term interactive pricing approach needs to change." This statement seems to jibe with statements from other iSeries executives, that IBM is considering implementing some price breaks in 2003 that are similar to its Green Streak campaign, in which it dropped the cost of some new iSeries Model 270s and 820s by 50 percent, or about the cost of the servers' interactive capacity. The one-hour chat also featured presentations from two new iSeries executives: Cecelia Marrese, iSeries vice president of marketing, and Paulo Carvao, iSeries vice president of sales for the Americas. Henrik Schlegal, iSeries vice president of sales for Europe, was also on the call. Carvao said that IBM has been in contact with 10,000 independent software vendors in the Americas, that 3,500 of those vendors have demonstrated an interest in working with the iSeries, and that 2,000 are already active in the iSeries market with solutions. The next iNation chat is scheduled for Thursday and will cover IBM's WebFacing Tool, "the best way to the Web." To register for the call, go to www.premconf.com/rsvp and reference confirmation code 715944.

• Every yin has its yang, and even IBM's Green Streak promotion has found its Doppelganger. Last week BCC Technologies went public with its new "RedStreak" program, which effectively cuts the price of its 15K RPM iSeries disk drives by 50 percent--the same level of discount IBM is offering on some iSeries servers through its Green Streak promotion. BCC, the only provider of internal disks to the OS/400 platform besides IBM, is offering customers one free disk for every two they purchase under RedStreak. BCC is offering a both its standard and its FAST (FAST refers to BCC's "short stroking" technology, which decreases the available space on a disk but increases the number of operations per second it can handle) 15K RPM Extender disks through the promotion, including the 35 GB and 17 GB FAST disks, both of which cost $1,750, and the standard 17 GB disk, the 8 GB FAST disk, and the 5 GB FAST disk, all three of which cost $1,200. BCC has an OEM relationship with IBM for UltraStar disks, the same ones that IBM's server division sells. However, BCC is currently the only place to purchase 15K drives for the OS/400 platform. For more information on the program, which expires December 31, visit www.bcctech.com/promotions/redstreak.htm.
  
  
• IBM six months ago announced WebSphere Portal for Multiplatforms Version 4.1, a Java application that provides a framework for providing users with personalized access to a variety of applications and data, and managing administrative tasks such as portal membership. Several weeks ago, IBM announced the OS/400-enabled version of that product, called WebSphere Portal Enable for iSeries Version 4.1. This application features a variety of prebuilt portlets, or pieces of integration code that connect applications and data to the portal, for accessing applications such as e-mail, calendars, collaboration, and syndicated news, as well as a portlet API for extending portlet functions. With this software, users can select which applications they view and how they want to see them, including via over handheld devices. WebSphere Portal Enable provides single sign-on authentication capabilities for the users and applications under its control, and it integrates with Domino Directory, SecureWay LDAP Directory, SecureWay LDAP Server, iPlanet Directory, and Microsoft Active Directory. The application includes several IBM components, including WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition 4.0, WebSphere Studio Application Developer, Web Content Publisher, Domino Application Server R5, Lotus Workflow R3, and a Portal Toolkit. WebSphere Portal Enable for iSeries 4.1 requires OS/400 V5R1 or V5R2 and becomes available for electronic download on December 5. IBM's suggested retail price for a license for the software is about $74,000 (with Passport Advantage customers paying about $79,000). For customers upgrading to WebSphere Portal Enable for iSeries from WebSphere Personalization for AS/400 Version 3.5, the cost is about $59,000.
  
  
• If you are trying to sort out the latest PTFs for OS/400 and its related systems programs that IBM has released, you need to check out the OS/400 PTF Guides, which our partner, DLB Associates, has compiled for you. The latest OS/400 PTF Guide is for Oct. 19. An archive of OS/400 PTF Guides is also available on our site.
  
  
• Microsoft and CRM software supplier Siebel Systems have signed an alliance that will see Siebel deploy its eponymous CRM applications on Windows platforms using Microsoft's .NET technologies. Siebel started out on Windows servers and still ships the vast majority of its software on Windows platforms, even though it does support Unix and other environments. So a pact with Microsoft on .NET is not all that surprising, but what is surprising is that it took this long. Exactly what this means is unclear, since Microsoft is working on its own CRM software and is obviously more interested in selling its stuff than in promoting Siebel's solutions. Then again, Siebel aims mostly at very large enterprises--hence its overlapping and non-exclusive deals with IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Microsystems--and maybe Microsoft wants a piece of that high-end action with .NET. Siebel says that it will work with Microsoft's engineers to certify its CRM suite on the NET products, and it says further that it will spend $250 million on developing the Siebel CRM suite for .NET and on marketing it to prospective customers. Microsoft will also devote company resources--presumably including marketing muscle and software engineers--to the Siebel alliance, but it is not saying what resources it plans to commit. This Microsoft deal doesn't appear to have affected Siebel's relationship with IBM, but the word on the street is that Siebel is backpedaling on its support of the hybrid OS/400-Windows implementation of its eBusiness suite.
  
  
• IBM last week cut the price tags on some iSeries features that are set to be withdrawn from marketing on December 3. The price cut of 15 percent on Model 7XX memory cards, various tape drives, and an ATM networking card is in effect until December 2, the last day to buy these features from IBM.
  
  
• Project eLiza, the self-healing, autonomic initiative that IBM's marketeers dreamed up last year to try to differentiate future IBM products from those of future competitors, got its own business division at Big Blue last week. The Autonomic Computing Unit at IBM is a cross-divisional organization headed up by Alan Ganek, the former vice president of strategy for IBM Research. Like everybody else in IT, IBM realizes that computers, networks, and software are too complex and too difficult to manage and Big Blue needs an overarching architecture for implementing self-healing, self-administering, and self-tuning technologies in its hardware and software products and, more significant for a behemoth like IBM, an organization that can compel different IBM divisions to work together to make autonomic computing more than just a sci-fi dream. You can learn more about what IBM is up to with this unit at www.ibm.com/autonomic.
  
  

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