OK, let's review. One way to make traditional BPM "disappear" is for BPM-enabled applications and services to appear and proliferate. This means vendors need to help to enable the easy construction, deployment, management, and revision of such applications, by independent software vendors (ISVs) and by enterprise developers (and users, where appropriate). Provision of this help via interoperable, open, standards-based technologies would also…well, help.
Salesforce.com, Inc.'s latest offerings and updates are poised to deliver such help atop its vaunted software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. And yesterday and today, IBM Corp.'s been unveiling multiple phases of its strategy to support similar features, in ways that integrate with incumbent applications and solutions, from IBM and other vendors. And IBM's latest announcements are built atop broadly adopted, open, standards-based Eclipse technologies. This means those announcements, as and when they become products, will "reach out and touch" multiple technology platforms with equal ease and functionality. This should appeal to corporate developers in heterogeneous environments (that is to say, all of them), and commercial developers seeking the broadest possible markets.
And what of Microsoft Corp., arguably the company with the offerings used by more enterprise users than those of any other vendor? Well, according to today's news reports, Microsoft chose the week of IBM's Lotusphere event to announce new tools and templates, intended to ease the travails of those seeking to migrate from Lotus Notes and/or Domino to Microsoft technologies. At least one of those same news reports indicates that Microsoft has outfitted a bus with demonstrations of and information about Windows Vista and its latest collaboration solutions. That bus is in Orlando, where Lotusphere is, this week, the report adds.
In other words, the very same week IBM announces a brave new world of openness and opportunity for its users and developers – a world that even embraces those committed to Microsoft technologies – Microsoft once again decides it's time to "help" Notes/Domino users to lock themselves into the Microsoft fold. To be sure, Microsoft is touting its alliances, partnerships, and standards support. But the argument just ain't as compelling as IBM's. Moreover, the timing and nature of Microsoft's announcements and reported actions risk making the company seem slightly less welcoming and confident in its abilities to compete on merits than, say, IBM.
Oh, come on, Microsoft. Creative marketing is creative marketing, but there's sometimes a thin line between "creative" and "spiteful-looking."
It would be very, very difficult for me to recommend that any IT or business decision-maker NOT look at the alternative approaches to BPM-enabled applications and services or unified communications and collaboration from both companies. And for those in environments already dominated by Microsoft technologies, there are likely strong arguments in favor of continuing and extending those investments. However, given that the imminent appearance of major new releases of just about every significant product Microsoft sells to corporations, "a change is gonna come" anyway. Given that, it should by no means be assumed that Microsoft's solutions and strategies are necessarily the best choice, even in currently Microsoft-dominated environments. After all, IBM brings a lot to the party, too, especially in terms of experience and proven best practices helping translate heterogeneous technologies into business-boosting solutions.
Besides, I don't care much for Microsoft's apparent attitude in this case. If it were my company, I'd much rather build BPM into my business applications using templates and technologies from a company "walking the talk" about interoperability, openness, and standards. At least as of right now, IBM and Salesforce.com each looks a lot like such a company – but the Colossus of Redmond does not. And the sad part is, it could, it really could. It just doesn't seem very predisposed to do so any time soon.
At least, that's what I think. What about you?
technorati tags: lotusphere2007, ibm
Michael Dortch has been an analyst, 'information entrepreneur,' speaker, and writer about IT and 'the real world" for the past 30 years. After almost 10 years at the Robert Frances Group (RFG), Michael begins a new position with Aberdeen Group in September.
Dennis Byron is an analyst with ebizQ, focusing on Open Source Software as well as Business Process Management technologies.
