IBM Makes New Pitch for Partners (
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At this week's PartnerWorld, IBM is unveiling new application development and integration
tools, vertical-specific offerings, and an expanded partner ecosystem.
IBM hopes to gain the trust of ISVs and clear a path for their embrace of its
technologies through a troika of new application development and integration
tools, vertical-specific offerings, and an expanded partner ecosystem.
The company plans to unveil these initiatives at its PartnerWorld conference
in Las Vegas this week. If it can sell ISVs and resellers on the plan, the result
for customers could be more third-party applications built on IBMs middleware
stack and tailored to specific vertical industries.
The company will start this week by introducing its IBM Integrated Runtime
tool kit.
When choosing a technology partner, ISVs must often decide between using Java
and IBMs middleware tools or using Microsoft Corp.s .Net stack. IBM hopes
Integrated Runtime will tilt the balance in its favor.
Built using components from the Armonk, N.Y., companys DB2 Universal Database
Express and WebSphere Application Server Express, the tool kit is a preconfigured
infrastructure on which ISVs can deploy Windows, Linux or OS/400 applications.
ISVs can then "glue" the Integrated Runtime technology to applications to create
a single installation package, thanks to IBMs autonomic capabilities, IBM officials
said.
Integrated Runtime beta tester Don Imhoff, vice president at Pittsburgh-based
LogicLibrary Inc., said his company wanted to create a channel-ready, turnkey
version of its Logidex software development asset-mapping product. Imhoff discovered
that Integrated Runtime shortened enterprise customer installation from 8 hours
to 21 minutes.
"The results were amazing," Imhoff said. "What that allows us to do is redeploy
our professional service resources on higher-margin services such as assets,
assessments and a quick-start program to help customers through a pilot project."
Next page: IBM to unveil Migration Station.