All Guns Pointed In One Direction
Source: Computer Reseller News
Computer Reseller News via Individual Inc. : Netscape must be doing
something right. Everyone wants to kill them.
First it was Microsoft. After completely missing the significance of the
Internet, Microsoft managed to radically alter its development efforts and its
marketing message, setting it on a collision course with Netscape.
Then comes Lotus. Reacting ostensibly to some comparative-pricing ads,
Lotus has developed a calmly thought-out response. As one insider put it,
"This is World War III. [Lotus] wants to annihilate them."
Both Microsoft and Lotus are acting like a couple of peacocks strutting their
plumage before a parakeet. No matter what Netscape does, they have the
trump cards.
Microsoft has thousands of developers on its side that have committed their
fortunes to Windows APIs. And with NT taking off and pending schisms in
Java, there is no reason to believe these developers will abandon their
bread-and- butter market for a popular start-up.
Moreover, Microsoft has an army of Solution Providers that work with
Microsoft software. They are trained, certified and making money. And while
many also are making money on the Internet, they clearly are not going to
throw away their investment.
Ditto for Lotus. Notes is the pre-eminent groupware package. Lotus has
thousands of systems engineers and business partners trained and certified,
and there are things Lotus still does better than its rivals, like local replication.
So why all the animosity? Because both of the giants want to be sitting where
Netscape is but are having trouble getting there.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 is expected to be late and the company has
developed overlapping products that are causing confusion. And, even more
disturbing, Netscape is still selling a boatload of server software and has
created applets that compete directly with Microsoft Office.
Lotus/IBM, meanwhile, is a wee bit short on marketing prowess. Fortunately
for them, Notes VARs do not share that weakness.
Netscape is years behind in developing a channel. Although the company has
put its marketing message and dollars in the right place, nothing happens
overnight. It takes years to get enough resellers certified and committed to a
platform to acquire critical mass.
Even Sun, Netscape's closest partner, has expressed some discomfort with
Netscape. Behind the scenes, the two companies do not always see
eye-to-eye on Java development, despite their common goal of winning a
piece of the desktop market from Microsoft.
Still, Netscape has accomplished what few others have done in this industry
for far too long. It has made the giants sit up and take notice and reform their
complacent ways. Competition is a good thing. It makes companies more
innovative and agile, and it can open the door to new competitors.
What do you think? E-mail me at esperlin@crn.cmp.com.
Copyright 1996 CMP Media Inc.
<<Computer Reseller News -- 11-17-96, p. 10>>
[11-18-96 at 17:04 EST, Copyright 1996, CMP Publications, Inc.] |
