Installing program linux

IBM puts more products in Express line: easier installing versions of top-line software, new licensing program and sales tools were highlights of PartnerWorld

NEW ORLEANS -- IBM Corp. has announced more easy to install and specially-priced versions of its top products as part of its continuing strategy to attract business from medium-sized companies.

Along with the software, marketed with the Express tag, IBM also announced at its PartnerWorld conference here last month a new licensing program for volume software purchases, aimed at helping resellers purchase the products.

"We're providing enterprise-capable software engineered and deployable in mid-sized companies that provides the ability to grow as Web services and dynamic business processes grow," said Paul McErlearn, vice-president of software sales for IBM Canada.

The new products, which will be available to buy in the second quarter, include:

* DB2 Express, the company's relational database, which it says can be installed with one mouse click and has self-tuning and self-configuring features. In beta now, it will be available on Windows and Linux. Company officials said the product is designed to compete with Microsoft's SQL Server database.

* Tivoli Storage Resource Manager Express, for managing networks.

* Lotus Domino Collaboration Bundle Express combines Lotus Domino Server for messaging and either Lotus Notes client or iNotes for e-mail and collaborative applications.

* Lotus Domino Utility Server Express will allow unlimited access to collaborative applications by either a Web browser or a separately-purchased Notes client.

Both Domino Express packages will have targeted licensing options for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees -- IBM's definition of mid-market.

The packages join WebSphere Application Server Express and WebSphere Portal Express announced late last year.

IBM said it will also release in the second quarter an upgraded version of Websphere Portal Express that will support Linux and SQL Server.

No prices were announced for the new products, but IBM said they will be similar to the pricing model for WebSphere Express to appeal to smaller companies, which is either per user or per processor.

Not to ignore hardware, the vendor also announced new storage solutions with enterprise features but aimed at mid-sized companies.

They include the TotalStorage FAStT 900, a mid-range disk storage system available next month, and the TotalStorage Linear Tape-Open Ultrium 2 drive, which doubles capacity and performance over the first generation Ultrium drives. No prices were announced on the storage equipment.

IBM also said a new On Demand Sales Pack is available for download, a collection of tools and products resellers can use to help sell IBM products for 'on-demand computing,' a company phrase for software and services that link customers' IT systems.

IBM is promising that partners will also get specialized training on how to sell on-demand solutions, as well as new campaigns to help them market these solutions. All this is part of the US$ 100 million IBM says it will spend this year to assist partners get business.

Also announced was IBM Community Tools, a suite of peer-to-peer applications for group problem solving on IBM's iSeries systems.

Community Tools is a messaging client using technologies from several IBM applications such as Lotus Sametime, letting linked users ask questions, hold discussions, send alerts and search multiple databases.

IBM also announced a business partners solution grid, a North Americanwide grid computing environment which will allow software vendors to run grid applications they are building in simulation.