ALL, Article...SCO lures Intel and Compaq to UnixWare...
By Ephraim Schwartz
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 5:31 AM PT, Feb 21, 1998
SCO will announce this week a major commitment from industry heavyweights Intel and Compaq to support SCO's UnixWare as the standard OS for Intel-based systems in the data center.
SCO and Intel will share a "virtual" stage with Compaq, Data General, ICL, and Unisys during what SCO is calling a "virtual conference" to outline details of the plans.
"This is a business commitment among the parties," said an SCO representative. "There is money on the table."
The companies will invest millions in SCO UnixWare for the data center, according to the representative, who indicated that part of the money will go into engineering rather than marketing.
Stripped of all the hype, the announcement is an effort by all parties to send a message that they have the technical capability to run large enterprise-level applications with service, support, and software expertise on Intel servers.
"Compaq will make the boxes," said Richard Fichera, vice president of research at the Giga Information Group, in Cambridge, Mass. "They are trying to show an industrial-strength Unix environment.
"When it comes to Unix, IS managers have a strong tendency to want to buy a bundle from the vendor," Fichera added. "So Unisys can integrate and service their systems, while Compaq needs their [Digital] subsidiary to service their boxes."
However, Compaq may face a more difficult challenge as it chooses which Unix operating system it will ultimately support -- its own Digital Unix or that of SCO.
"They just got married, but they want to keep a long-standing affair going," Fichera said. "They are the largest platform for SCO Unix."
Despite SCO's use of the phrase "de facto standard," most analysts believe the term is subject to various interpretations.
Intel is not just committing to one operating system vendor's OS, according to Mary Hubley, research director at the Gartner Group, in Delran, N.J.
"Intel is going out in the market. They realize [Windows] NT will not be ready for Merced, so they need to decide which Unix vendors are likely to be the best for Merced," Hubley said. "SCO and [Sun] Solaris are two. Everybody is partnering with everybody else."
"Intel doesn't care who wins," Fichera agreed. "They date a lot of people."
An Intel representative appeared to agree.
"We are working with OEMs, OSVs [operating system vendors], and ISVs to make sure that we have a platform in place for Merced when it becomes available," the representative said.
Despite Intel's jockeying for position with Merced, some analysts note that the Intel chip will be a newcomer in Unix's stronghold.
"As the core transaction system for the enterprise, Intel systems are not there yet," Fichera said.
With the announcement from SCO, all eyes will be turning toward the company's major rival in the Unix market -- Sun Microsystems.
"We have an Intel agreement," said Thomas Goguen, product marketing manager at Sun Microsystems, in Palo Alto, Calif. "They can't favor one OS over another. We are a top-tier OS provider for the Merced platform. That's what the agreement provided us."
"We are setting up OEM and Intel tuning centers around the world to port applications running on Solaris for Merced," Goguen added.
On March 10, SCO will introduce Version 7.0 of its UnixWare, its enterprise-level Unix OS.
SCO, in Scotts Valley, Calif., can be reached at sco.com.
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Everyones future is tied to the Merced chip. :-)
Michael |
