IBM's new server to counter Oracle

International Business Machines (IBM), the largest computer-services provider, is introducing new server systems today, aiming to bolster its leading position as software rival Oracle Corp enters the market.

The Power7 systems will be tailored for specific projects, such as running electrical grids or financial analytics, Rodney Adkins, senior vice president for systems and technology, said last week in an interview. The systems, made of integrated servers, software and storage, will start selling this month.

The release marks the first new systems since Adkins took over IBM’s hardware division in October, after predecessor Bob Moffat left the company amid the Galleon Group insider-trading scandal. IBM’s focus on project-specific systems, along with investments in research and development, will help it gain market share even as Oracle starts selling similar servers with its acquisition of Sun Microsystems Inc., he said.

“It’s easy in this industry to say, ‘I have this piece, I have this piece, I have this piece, now I have it all,’” said Adkins. “It really requires innovation.”

With the purchase of server maker Sun, Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison has said he plans to challenge IBM by selling computers packaged with software customized for industries, such as retailing.

Global sales of high-end servers will be about $14 billion this year, according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based researcher IDC. IBM held 40 percent of that market in the third quarter, IDC’s most recent report. Hewlett-Packard Co. had 27 percent, followed by Sun with 26 percent.


Hardware Sales
Hardware sales make up 17 percent of Armonk, New York-based IBM’s total revenue, which topped $95 billion last year. The company is the world’s third-largest software maker, trailing Microsoft Corp. and Redwood City, California-based Oracle.

IBM offered to buy Sun for about $7 billion last year, according to people familiar with the matter. Oracle ultimately acquired Sun for $7.4 billion, and the deal closed last month.

IBM rose 52 cents to $123.52 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Feb. 5. The shares had fallen 5.6 percent this year before today.

Microsoft’s 10 hot new technologies

Microsoft recently hosted its annual Professional Developers Conference (PDC). The company showcases its new technologies to the software developer community at the conference.

At PDC 2009, Microsoft gave developers a view into the slew of new technologies and new releases of its existing products/technologies it is working on.

Here's looking into the 10 hottest technologies Microsoft is working on.

Silverlight 4
Microsoft unveiled a beta version of Silverlight 4, the company's competitor to Adobe's Flash Player plugin. Silverlight 4 will focus on media, business applications, and working `behind the browser'. Features include access to webcams and microphones, multi-cast streaming, output protection, and offline DRM support.

Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president of Microsoft's developer division said that Silverlight 4 will tackle processor-intensive tasks at almost twice the rate of its predecessor, and will provide 30% faster startup.

The beta is now available, and the final release is scheduled for the first half of 2010.

Internet Explorer 9
Microsoft also gave a few details on the next edition Internet Explorer, IE9. Internet Explorer 9 will be the first browser to use hardware acceleration to render all kinds of images, videos and text. Other tweaks include rounded edges on text boxes and support of HTML 5.

Windows President Steven Sinofsky claimed that Internet Explorer 9 will enjoy a serious performance boost, but held back from promising any launch date.

`Dallas’
Microsoft's codename `Dallas’ is a new service that allows developers and information workers to easily discover, purchase and manage premium data subscriptions in its cloud-based Windows Azure platform.

According to web reports, Dallas is an information marketplace that brings data, imagery and real-time Web services from leading commercial data providers and authoritative public data sources together into a single location, under a unified provisioning and billing framework.

Pinpoint
Pinpoint is an enterprise level cloud-based application store for developers using the Azure cloud. Pinpoint aims to help developers and technology service providers get software applications and professional services to market -- and engage customers who need what they offer.

It is said to be the largest directory of qualified IT companies and their software solutions built on Microsoft technologies.

PinPoint is likely to compete with Salesforce.com’s four-year-old AppExchange online marketplace and other similar app stores.

`Sydney'
Bob Muglia, Microsoft's president of Server and Tools Business said that with Windows Azure, Microsoft will be entering into beta Project Sydney in 2010. The new project will enable users to connect their existing servers inside of their data center together with services that are running with Windows Azure.

Sydney creates a kind of virtual network that ties together pieces of an application or process running at various places so that they all look like one logical system.

AppFabric
Another key technology introduced by Microsoft is AppFabric. AppFabric is an application server layer that includes the cloud and internal servers to provide developers a single, consistent environment for .Net applications.

AppFabric combines hosting and caching technologies formerly code-named Dublin and Velocity. AppFabric comes in two flavors: Windows Server AppFabric and Windows Azure platform AppFabric. Beta 1 for Windows Server 2008 R2 was released recently and a beta for Azure is expected in 2010.

Pivot
Microsoft's Live Labs team introduced an experimental prototype application codenamed `Pivot'. Pivot is an application that aims to make it easier to view and interact with massive amounts of data in ways that are powerful, informative and fun.

According to a description on the Live Labs Web site, it is meant to combine search, browsing and recommendations to create a more unified Web experience. For example, if you have 10,000 magazine covers and you're looking for only India-specific covers, it will sort out only India-specific covers.

Presently, Microsoft is offering a limited technical preview of Pivot to a set of invited testers.

Office 2010 Beta
Microsoft also released the public beta of Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft Visio 2010, Microsoft Project 2010, Microsoft Office Mobile 2010 and Office Web Apps for business customers.

Other than new icons, Office 2010 suite features new Office Communicator 2007 R2 integrated in Outlook 2010. Communicator allows users to sync their Windows Live and other social networking site feeds in Outlook. The public beta is offered in 32-bit (684MB) and 64-bit (750MB) versions. Both packages include tweaked versions of Office applications: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, InfoPath, SharePoint Workspace and Communicator.

SQL Server Modeling
According to Microsoft, SQL Server Modeling (formerly code name `Oslo') is a set of technologies that provide productivity gains across the lifecycle of .NET applications by enabling developers, architects, and IT professionals to work together effectively with SQL Server at the center of the application lifecycle.






Microsoft Windows Azure
At the PDC, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, announced plans for the formal launch of Windows Azure, the cloud-based operating system that lets developers write programmes that run on servers in Microsoft's data centers. It is expected to be in production for all users starting January 1.

Azure will reportedly be hosted at three pairs of data centers: Chicago and San Antonio for North America, Dublin and Amsterdam for Europe, and Singapore and Hong Kong for Asia.

Oracle ends computer tie-up with HP

Oracle Corp has ended a high-profile computer-building partnership with Hewlett-Packard Co as Oracle prepares to acquire Sun Microsystems Inc, a rival of HP.

Sun, the world's No. 4 server maker, and Oracle have jointly developed a second-generation version of a specialised database computer, dubbed Exadata. Oracle and HP launched the first version a year ago.

Oracle Chief Executive Larry Ellison unveiled the new machine, almost a year after he announced his company's entry into the hardware business with help from HP. At the time, he said that HP would be a key ally in that effort.

But the dynamics of that relationship have changed since April, when Oracle agreed to buy Sun for more than $7 billion. Hewlett-Packard and Sun are fierce rivals in the markets for server computers and storage equipment.

The new Exadata computer is the first of what Ellison has said will be many products that wed Sun's hardware with Oracle's software.

An Oracle spokeswoman said Oracle would continue to sell the Exadata computers, built in partnership with HP, until existing inventory is sold out, if customers request that model.

Officials at Hewlett-Packard could not be reached for comment.

When Ellison unveiled the HP partnership a year ago, he told customers that the product could not have been developed without that company's assistance. On Tuesday he bragged that Sun's technology made the database computer far superior to hardware from rivals including Teradata Corp and Netezza Corp.

"Everything is bigger about Exadata, Version 2. Everything is faster about Exadata, Version 2," he said during a presentation to customers that was broadcast over the Internet.

Oracle does not break out sales of the Exadata machine. But during the company's most recent earnings call, Ellison said that it was one of the most successful products he had launched since he founded the company more than 30 years ago.