It seems Dennis
and Jonathan
would like IBM to support the Solaris platform on
our x86 and Opteron systems. I
agree. Yet, Big Blue seems a bit reluctant. Imagine that. They'll come
around, though. Look, if Solaris is as hot as
we say it is, and if the OpenSolaris community is as excited as we
think it is, then customers will demand the platform. Then IBM will
port their best apps and everyone wins. Eventually. But this is a
challenge I think we can meet, and I think a thriving OpenSolaris
community will help IBM make up its mind. The pressure on IBM, though,
is building and will only increase:
- Sun's Schwartz Calls Out IBM on Lack of Support for Solaris on x86, eWeek
- Sun's Schwartz To IBM: "Tear Down This Wall" And Support Solaris 10, WebSphere Journal
- Sun chief uses blog in challenge to IBM, San Francisco Chronicle
- Sun Challenges IBM to Port to Solaris, internetnews.com
- Sun Sings Big Blues, Forbes
Some
large enterprise customers, such as General Motors Corp., which has a
$3 billion annual IT budget, agree with Singer. Tony Scott, chief
technology officer of GM's information systems and services group in
Detroit, said IBM is wrong and that the company is looking backward in
the mirror on this issue rather than forward. GM was one of the
customers pushing Sun to get onto the x86 platform. "We really like
[Solaris on x86] from a competitive standpoint," Scott said.
"The pressure is going to mount on IBM and others to support their applications on that platform, which is going to have significant market share and has all the marks of a successful, viable, competitive platform," Scott said. "For companies such as GM, which already has an installed Sun base, this is attractive. In this particular case, I think IBM is being a little shortsighted," he said.
"The pressure is going to mount on IBM and others to support their applications on that platform, which is going to have significant market share and has all the marks of a successful, viable, competitive platform," Scott said. "For companies such as GM, which already has an installed Sun base, this is attractive. In this particular case, I think IBM is being a little shortsighted," he said.
