IBM rolls out new portfolio of software for Middle East small and medium businesses

Designed, priced and marketed specifically to help small and medium businesses integrate and manage their different business processes, the new middleware from IBM is based on open standards, providing an alternative to the proprietary approach to computing common in this market. It also has a number of autonomic features - self-managing and self-healing technologies to reduce the administration burden on IT departments.

"Smaller businesses in this region are looking for reliable and easy to deploy solutions, which will not tie them in to a specific technology platform. These kinds of organisations often have limited IT budgets, and want to be sure that as technology or their market changes, they can easily adapt, without losing their technology investment," said Bashar Kilani, software group manager, IBM Middle East and North/West Africa. "They need Web-based solutions that will deliver immediate business value and help them grow their businesses quickly. The new Express software will help SMBs integrate a number of operations -- managing finance and accounting, customer relationships or the supply chain."

Businesses that integrate all their operations end-to-end across the company and with suppliers, customers and employees will take a major step toward becoming an on demand e-business -- able to respond with flexibility and speed to any customer demand, market opportunity or external threat.

The following new IBM Express offerings were developed in consultation with Business Partners and configured for them to resell and customize to meet the needs of their customers:

• IBM DB2 Express is a new, full function database for the midmarket. It offers customers the convenience of being pre-configured by Business Partners for solutions in key vertical markets such as retail, manufacturing and banking. Business Partners embedding DB2 Express in their offerings can offer customers the convenience of a one or no-click silent, unobtrusive database installation. DB2 Express also provides advanced manageability features through self-tuning and self-configuring characteristics that enable customers to reduce complexity, increase reliability and improve overall total cost of ownership. The offering, which will run on Linux and Windows, is now available to customers in beta and will be generally available worldwide in the second-quarter of 2003.
• IBM Tivoli Storage Resource Manager Express Edition, available in the second quarter, is an open, integrated and autonomic solution aimed at enabling small- and medium-sized businesses to optimally manage their storage environments and is designed for deployment on single processor desktops. It installs in as few as 15 minutes and can help SMBs improve ROI on storage hardware through increased capacity utilization, simplified administration, lower costs, and reduced risk of application downtime.
• IBM Lotus Domino Utility Server Express and Lotus Domino Collaboration Bundle Express will be available in the second quarter with targeted licensing, deployment and administration options appropriate for midmarket organizations of fewer than 1,000 employees. Lotus Domino Collaboration Bundle Express combines the Lotus Domino Server and the choice of the Lotus Notes client or Lotus Domino Web Access (iNotes) for e-mail and collaborative applications.

Lotus Domino Utility Server Express will allow unlimited access to collaborative applications via either a Web browser or a separately purchased Notes client. Both Lotus Domino-based Express offerings will deliver the same enterprise grade messaging, group calendaring and off-the-shelf or custom application support that are relied upon by large organizations around the globe. They will carry the same benefits of dependability and security, and can lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and higher return on investment (ROI) than competitive products.

Feedback from business partners indicates that the new Express offerings will to be as successful in the market as previously released WebSphere - Express products. WebSphere Application Server - Express, which already supports Linux and Windows, will add support on February 21 for IBM's iSeries -- an integrated mid-market server that features mainframe-class technology -- and will add support for AIX, Solaris and HP-UX in later in the first half of this year.

In the second quarter IBM will also release the next version of WebSphere Portal - Express, which will include support for Linux and Microsoft SQL Server as well as offer new collaboration features from Lotus software. WebSphere Portal - Express on Linux gives SMBs an open, cost-effective and reliable workplace platform for all industries, promoting productivity and efficiency.

For business partners, IBM's Express portfolio offers a strategic platform for delivering midmarket solutions and customer value. For ISVs, IBM Express offerings provide an ROI that will support ISV profitably, adding value to their solutions over time. For other solution providers, the IBM Express products can help establish repeatable engagements and be used as a springboard to larger opportunities.

IBM Express Product Process
IBM understands that SMBs have unique and differing technology needs and has invested in the development of products and services designed, priced and marketed specifically for these customers as they become on demand businesses. With that in mind, IBM has created a rigorous process to ensure that all Software Group product offerings that use the "Express" designation adopt attributes that are important for success in the medium business market, including being priced to market, provides the right functions, is a complete software solution, is extensible and flexible, has a reasonable footprint, and that it's easy to install, manage, integrate, learn and use. The assessment framework also enables product teams to quickly leverage existing market intelligence, benchmark their product's fit to medium business wants and needs, identify competitive gaps and prioritise action items for improving product relevancy to medium businesses.

Passport Advantage Express Licensing
As business partners are a primary route to market for IBM's $13 billion software division, IBM will offer new training and support programs that help partners resell, install, integrate and finance the new Express software. For example, a new offering, known as the Passport Advantage Express, has a much simplified licensing model that will make it easier for small and medium-sized customers to acquire IBM technology -- particularly Express offerings -- and easier for Business Partners to work with IBM to serve this community. Passport Advantage Express will have the following characteristics:

• Single suggested retail price for each product
• One license model -- perpetual license includes a full 12 months of maintenance (subscription and support)
• Transaction-based renewals -- Software Maintenance renewal on anniversary date of each purchase
• Simple license terms -- no contracts or signatures
• One step end user registration process