IBM Re-Enters Workgroup Market with Message Queueing Software

Strategic Insights -

IBM is reviving its efforts in the workgroup market with a new strategy centered around its Message Queueing software. This move aims to capitalize on IBM's existing strengths in the industry, including its dominance in the mainframe market. The company's previous foray into the workgroup market, OfficeVision, was a notable failure, but IBM is determined to learn from its mistakes and succeed this time around. The Message Queueing software will be a key component of IBM Workgroup, which will provide a unified platform for integrating various systems and applications.

Key Takeaways:

  • IBM Workgroup will cover personal computers, AS/400 midrange systems, AIX variant of the Unix operating system, and expand to include other Unix, Windows NT, and System/390 mainframes running the MVS operating system.
  • IBM plans to integrate existing products such as Time and Place calendaring program and IntelliAgent facility into the Workgroup strategy.
  • IBM Workgroup will support VIM, MAPI, and CMC standards, competing directly with Microsoft's Exchange and Lotus Notes.
  • A marketing investment of $40 to $50 million is planned to promote the Workgroup strategy.
  • The company's personal computers, AS/400 midrange systems, and AIX variant of the Unix operating system will be covered by the initial release of IBM Workgroup.
  • The Beyond range of products, including BeyondMail, WinRules, and Lotus Notes gateway software, has been taken over by BANYAN Asia Pacific for distribution in the region.
  • DATACRAFT has announced the availability of Isocor's Isomac, an X.400 user agent for the Macintosh, which provides access to Isoplex message servers.
  • DATAPLEX has designed the AccessPoint family of products to replace dedicated PCs running gateways and remote access applications in server rooms.
  • 4th Dimension has ported its Enterprise ControlStation systems management product to HP-UX, providing a single point of management for operations running multiple HP-UX, VAX/VMS, AS/400, and MVS systems.
  • DEC has added HP and IBM Unix, as well as Windows NT, to the list of environments that are supported by the storage division's disk, tape, and optical products.

Statistics:

  • IBM plans a marketing investment of $40 to $50 million to promote the Workgroup strategy.
  • The Prosignia 500 starts at $8447, and features Intel's 90 MHz Pentium.
  • The top-end ProLiant 4000 5/100 starts at $28,558 and comes equipped with the 100MHz version of the Pentium, as well as an option for a third-level cache card dubbed the Transaction Blaster.
  • DATACRAFT's Isomac is priced at $80 for 200+ users, and Isomac Remote is priced at $30 for quantities over 100.
  • DEC's StorageWorks products were initially available for DEC, VAX, and Alpha, but were extended to Novell-based PC networks and to Sun Unix in July.

Sources:

  • "IBM Re-Enters Workgroup Market with Message Queueing Software", industry article, date not specified.
  • "Cisco Goes Direct", industry article, date not specified.
  • "New Compaq Servers", industry article, date not specified.
  • "Banyan Beyond", industry article, date not specified.
  • "X.400 for Mac", industry article, date not specified.
  • "All in One Rack", industry article, date not specified.
  • "HP-UX Port for 4D", industry article, date not specified.
  • "More StorageWorks", industry article, date not specified.
  • "SoHo ISDN TA", industry article, date not specified.