lustratus LiteBytes

IBM seems to be driving home its SOA message.

IBM’s latest results seem to show that the company really is driving its SOA message home. WebSphere middleware products, prime beneficiaries of the SOA drive, increased sales year-on-year by 22%, while services deals rocketed. Although the service deals may cover a wide range of needs, there is no doubt that IBM has really been pushing its array of SOA-based services, and with some success by the look of it.

I also do not think it coincidental that shipments and revenue from z-Series IBM mainframes have stubbornly refused to drop, despite the continual clamour that they really are on their way out this time. My recent post on the mainframe integration space generated a number of comments back to me that no-one really cares about them any more ‘because mainframes are so over’. Strangely, these comments all came from companies that do not have mainframe operations or practices….however IBM’s figures showing 5% or so growth in shipments and revenues reminds us all that mainframes are still relevant and will be so for a long time. I believe that the IBM SOA initiative helps to maintain this position, by bringing mainframe assets into the broader distributed world in an accessible and productive way.

The only hole I can see in IBM’s SOA portfolio now is a serious attempt to generate leadership in the BAM area – this is an area where it still lags behind other recognized leaders and innovators, although perhaps not quite urgent due to the fact that most companies are just not ready for real BAM yet.

Steve