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To: John T. Hardee who wrote (6929)	4/15/1998 4:24:00 AM
From: lml	Respond to of 19080

From today's IBD: Article 1 Market share isn't everything. Take the case of network computers, where IBM Corp. is likely to expand its share rapidly over the next year. But that's chiefly because few other vendors are making these stripped-down computers. Sun Microsystems Inc. and Oracle Corp. haven't yet produced in volume. And some makers are defecting to Windows-based terminals. Like the NC, these machines download their software from server computers. Windows terminals are designed to run only on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT operating software. The NC works off a variety of systems. IBM shipped 58,000 NCs last year, estimates Eileen O'Brien, an analyst with International Data Corp. But the market for NCs actually will shrink in '98, she says, as vendors like Wyse Technology Inc. move to Windows terminals. She expects IBM to increase both sales and market share. But unless the NC wins broader market acceptance, those could be hollow gains. Heading up Big Blue's new Network Computer Division is Bob Dies, a 29-year IBM veteran. The NC, says Dies, isn't - like the OS/2 operating system - another doomed IBM challenge to the Microsoft/Intel Corp. duopoly. He expects many PC users to switch to IBM's Network Station NC because it's easier to use and cheaper to manage. He recently spoke with IBD about the NC market. IBD: PC prices are tumbling. IBM and others are trying to reduce the costs of managing PCs. So why should anyone buy a network computer? Dies: The original purchase price (of a PC) is less than 20% of the cost of total ownership. So we at IBM are working very closely with our PC group to help reduce the other expenses in managing PCs. And we would like to get those costs down. But even reducing the PC costs of ownership can't get it to the lower level of cost and complexity we achieve with the net computer. IBD: Can IBM succeed as the only vendor in this product category? Dies: It would certainly help move the change to network computing if the other vendors would join in and ship products in volume. We had hoped that Sun, Oracle and others would have done that more quickly than they have. IBD: Are you selling NCs mostly as replacements for terminals? Dies: It's about half-and-half right now: terminal replacement and PC replacement. In the terminal market, a lot of the customers want to avoid the expense of PCs, but they want to add significant function - like (IBM's) Lotus Notes and Domino, and Web browsers. A lot of people that have PCs, in fact, are finding that in many environments the NC can be much more efficient and much less complex. IBD: What sorts of PC users are most amenable to the NC sales pitch? Dies: Two classes of users tend to be good fits: Users who use applications that already reside on host computers, such as call centers, people who use the Internet a lot, people doing order entry, people doing transaction- oriented things. Those kinds of people use servers and server-delivered data anyway. The second group is those people who do lots of different things . . . . When you jump between applications a lot, the NC in fact can deliver excellent performance - sometimes much better than the PC. IBD: Are there specific industries embracing the NC? Dies: Clearly, there are some industries that stand out early. Those are banks, insurance companies, airlines, the kinds of places where many people are doing transaction-oriented things in addition to some of the productivity applications. But it's not restricted to those. We've had supermarkets, travel agents, a whole variety of places. IBD: Some people don't like giving up their fancy, loaded PCs. Is that an issue for you? Dies: Yeah, it is an issue. What I tell them is they're not losing the PC or their software. All the icons are still there. What I tell them is: I'll get you the current version of the software. I'll get it to you without the delays you currently have. I'll back up your files automatically. I'll deliver to you whether you're at your desk or somewhere else in the company. So it's not a takeaway. It's an added set of functions they get with the NC. IBD: Will IBM sell Windows- based terminals? Dies: We haven't decided yet. We're evaluating it. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Copyright (c) 1998 Investors Business Daily, All rights reserved. Investor's Business Daily - Computers & Technology (04/15/98) IBM Still Waits On Sun, Oracle, Other NC Allies By Norm Alster

To: John T. Hardee who wrote (6929)	4/15/1998 4:26:00 AM
From: lml	Respond to of 19080

From Today's IBD: Article 2 Oracle Corp. has a new plan to make money with the Java programming language - and it has little to do with network computers. Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison was a leading proponent of NCs when they emerged a few years ago. Ellison saw NCs as a way to undermine Microsoft Corp.'s dominance in computer operating systems. Oracle planned to use Java to tie NCs to large corporate computer networks. The NC market since has stalled in the wake of fast-declining PC prices. Now, Oracle executives say Java still will be the glue bonding Oracle's database to a variety of computers. But they don't care if those machines are PCs, NCs or something else. ''It's like Johnny Appleseed backing away from apples,'' said Ron Rappaport, an analyst with Redwood City, Calif.-based Zona Research Inc. ''Oracle planted the NC seed in the minds of this industry.'' Still, Rappaport is pleased with Johnny's new direction. De-emphasizing NCs will help Oracle by giving them more avenues for sales, he says. The company's plan, slated to be unveiled Wednesday, echoes what seems to be an emerging trend among Java's proponents. The major players supporting Java - including IBM Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp. - now are talking more about making money with Java and less on how they plan to use it to beat Microsoft. Oracle and IBM, though, say they'll continue to sell NCs. ''People are using Java as a weapon - one company against another,'' said Mark Jarvis, Oracle's vice president of system products. ''The problem is that it's become a religious war. It's time for the industry to talk about how to take Java to the bank, not the church. That's what our focus is.'' Even Sun Microsystems Inc., Java's creator, has dropped some of its religious rantings in recent weeks, Rappaport says. At a Java developers' conference in March, John Gage, head of Sun's hardware division science office, conceded that for Java to succeed, Microsoft doesn't have to fall. Oracle seems to agree, Rappaport says. Oracle will start shipping new software that corporate customers will use for building various Java applications to help their businesses. The applications will be used in everything from controlling costs to tracking sales. The company also plans to announce Wednesday that in August it will start selling server-based Java software. The software will let Oracle customers more easily share data among many client computers and network servers. And by year-end, Oracle plans to integrate parts of the Java language into the next version of its primary database product. ''In our testing so far we have been able to improve the performance of Java by a factor of 10 by putting parts of the Java programming language into the database,'' Jarvis said. One of the worries keeping more corporations from adopting Java is its speed, Jarvis says. Oracle's actions could spur Java's growth in the corporate computing world. More than 90% of Fortune 500 companies use Oracle database software. ''Oracle is in one of the power positions to take Java and deliver it to a wide customer base,'' said Evan Quinn, an analyst with Framingham, Mass.-based International Data Corp. ''They're the world's largest database company by a long shot. If they bring the right products to bear using Java, they'll make lots of money off this and turn lots of corporations on to Java.'' At some point, Oracle customers will be able to run Java applications or parts of Java applications from client computers in a network, from a network server or from the database itself. This will let customers tie data from their databases to Web-based applications that run on nearly any client computer -including notebook PCs, Internet devices and personal digital assistants. ''A single developer can write an application where part of it runs within the browser, part in the server and part in the database, all from a single language,'' Jarvis said. ''That's never been done before.'' Customers can use this ability to create complex applications that work with critical business data, Jarvis says. Customers might use a Java application to order products and services. They also can query a database or server from a laptop computer to help them make purchasing decisions. Some customers might use similar Java applications that let their key suppliers and customers integrate with the company's computer network. Oracle itself uses Java for expense reporting. The people on the road can download an expense report to any device using a Java applet, or a small application. That applet works with Oracle's accounting department. This system lets employees get expense checks in days, rather than weeks, Jarvis says. More than that, he says the system lets the company resolve problems much faster. A growing number of corporate users are looking at similar Java-based applications, IDC's Quinn says. But mainstream acceptance of business- based Java Web applications is yet to come. ''It's still moving up the demand curve in corporations,'' Quinn said. ''It's not a full-blown case that companies are saying they need a Java Web application server yesterday. You won't see the mainstream nibbling on this until the other side of the year 2000.'' //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Copyright (c) 1998 Investors Business Daily, All rights reserved. Investor's Business Daily - Computers & Technology (04/15/98) Oracle's Plan To Reheat Java Moves NCs To Back Burner By Michael Tarsala