Blocking out the Sun: IBM unveils its plan to open the Web hosting market

Tackling a company in a dominant position is never easy. However, the task gets a little easier when the company backing the challenge has the resources to wage a meaningful battle for market share.

IBM's recent announcement that it has developed a Web hosting package specifically for Internet service providers, the RS/6000 POWERsolution, not only puts another option on ISPs' plates, but it also pits the company squarely against market leader Sun Microsystems.

IBM's solution includes an RS/6000 Web application server as well as software that will allow ISPs to offer new quality of service capabilities. Additionally, the company has thrown a yearlong consulting contract into the package, which includes 24-hour phone support.

"First and foremost what we think is going to sell this package is the improvement in quality of service that ISPs can offer," said Tom Keith, a solutions expert for IBM's Web server solutions. Adding that support will be key to ISPs that are forced to stretch their personnel resources. "It really is a consultant-over-the-phone concept," he said.

Providing such support may prove to be a distinct advantage in a market where ISPs are more focused on differentiating their services from competitors through marketing instead of technology. It also may boost the market share of IBM, which finds itself in the unfamiliar role of underdog to Sun, said one analyst.

"The advantage in this case is the total package," said Colin Mahony, Internet computing strategies analyst for The Yankee Group. "IBM is seen as a lot more of a solutions company. Sun is still viewed as a hardware vendor."

Included in the hardware package is an RS/6000 Model 43P-140 server, running at 332 MHz, a RISC processor containing 256 MByte of memory, three 4.5 GByte disks and two 10/100 Ethernet adapters. The software bundle includes IBM's Unix operating system, Netscape's Enterprise server security bundle and Lotus' Domino Go Web server.

IBM also is including management software from its Tivoli System subsidiary that gives ISPs more control over load balancing.

"They can pull in the management products from Tivoli and dominant products from Lotus into that one package," said Mahony. "They've really put together a package that doesn't leave anything out."

The company is even pushing the boundaries in its financing and ordering system, letting ISPs order the server off the Internet and giving them generous financing terms.

"As we've done our research, the Internet kept coming back as the preferred ordering technology," said Keith.

The goal is to provide ISPs with an easy transition to the RS/6000, according to Alan Cohen, chief marketing executive for IBM's Web server solutions group. In addition, the solution gives them an alternative to Sun's Solaris machines.

Sun, however, isn't sitting on its market lead. At Supercomm earlier this month, the company announced a number of enhancements to its Solaris server, including the addition of what one executive called "rock-hardened security."

"What we're doing is providing a specially hardened version for life outside of firewalls," said John McFarlan, president of Sun's Solaris division.

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DESIGNING BROADBAND NETS

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