Borland Strikes Technology Deals With IBM, BEA Systems, Parasoft

Borland and IBM last week announced a global distribution and marketing agreement to deliver some of their key Windows and Linux development technologies in bundles.

Under the agreement, Borland and IBM will link IBMs DB2 database software with Borlands rapid application development technology to help enterprise developers create GUI, database, Web and Web services applications for Windows and Linux.

Borland, of Scotts Valley, Calif., will bundle IBMs DB2 Universal Developers Edition with the latest versions of Borland Delphi Studio Architect and Enterprise, Borland C++Builder Enterprise, and Borland Kylix Enterprise. IBM later this summer will bundle 30-day trial versions of Borland Delphi Studio Architect, Borland C++Builder Enterprise and Borland Kylix Enterprise with the latest versions of IBM DB2 Universal Developers Edition and DB2 Universal Personal Edition. In addition, Borland and IBM, of Armonk, N.Y., will create a portal hosted by IBM to help developers move to the companies cross-platform products, officials said.

Lauren Flaherty, vice president of IBM Data Management Solutions, said the deal gives developers a migration path to Borland tools and DB2.

Meanwhile, Borland struck a deal with BEA, of San Jose, Calif., to deliver Borland JBuilder, WebLogic Edition for the development of Java applications and Web services. For BEA, the deal fills the void created earlier this month when WebGain Inc. sold its technology to TogetherSoft Corp. WebGain produced a primary development environment for WebLogic.

JBuilder, WebLogic Edition will offer developers enhanced JBuilder support for building enterprise solutions and deploying them on BEA WebLogic Platform 7.0, Borland officials said.

Borland has also teamed with Parasoft, of Monrovia, Calif., to integrate Parasofts Jtest testing tool for Java with Borlands JBuilder integrated development environment.

One analyst said Borland is pushing to show that it can compete in the application and Web services development tools space. "The demos [of Borlands technology] were as good as any I have seen from Microsoft [Corp.] or IBM," said Ron Schmelzer, an analyst with ZapThink LLC, in Cambridge, Mass. "XML Web services is making its way to the masses, and those who think that only the big boys have the lead share here are mistaken."