IBM’s lawyers can take the day off!

IBM’s dark-suited legal team can relax a little following the news that three organisations have agreed to drop antitrust complaints filed against IBM in Europe and the USA. The companies involved are T3 Technologies, NEON Enterprise Software, and TurboHercules.

Back in October 2009, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) started investigating IBM’s mainframe monopoly following complaints from T3. Back in 2000, T3 launched its tServer low-end mainframe based on the FLEX-ES technology from Fundamental Software Inc (FSI). IBM is saying T3 withdrew its appeal for a ruling in the US courts in May this year. IBM also says T3 has withdrawn its European Commission complaint, alleging antitrust behaviour by IBM.

IBM also says that NEON has dropped its European Commission complaint. This makes sense because in June NEON agreed (in the sense that a person with their arm twisted agrees) to stop reselling and distributing its zPrime product and requested customers to remove and destroy their copies. zPrime was controversial since it first appeared in July 2009 because it allowed mainframe users to run workloads on specialty processors rather than on the main processor. IBM’s revenue stream is based on main processor workloads. So you can see why users would welcome such a product (and the consequent savings they would make) and why IBM would not. As a consequence claims and counter claims flew back and forth between the two companies until the resolution in early June. Since then, NEON’s IMS products have been acquired by BMC.

Finally, TurboHercules has dropped complaints about IBM with the EU. TurboHercules, a French company, was set up in 2009 by Roger Bowler, who created the open source Hercules mainframe hardware emulator. TurboHercules allows mainframe operating systems and applications to run on x64 and Itanium processors running Windows, Linux, Mac OS, or Solaris as the host environment for Hercules. The organisation was part funded by Microsoft (obviously, no lover of mainframe technology).

But it’s not all good news for IBM. It’s still the subject of antitrust probes by the US DoJ and the European Commission. So, those lawyers can’t take off too many days!

And on a completely different topic: don’t forget it’s the Virtual IMS user group meeting on Tuesday with Scott Quillicy, CEO and Founder of SQData talking about IMS replication for high-availability. There are more details at www.fundi.com/virtualims.

OpenMainframe.Org

I must admit that until the Arcati Mainframe Yearbook 2010 was published, I was only dimly aware of OpenMainframe.org (their Web site, not surprisingly, is at openmainframe.org). They sponsored the Yearbook, and so I thought I’d find out more about them.

Their Web site explains that OpenMainframe.org is a forum for exchanging news, views, and information related to creating an open market for IBM-compatible mainframe solutions. And I guess they would put the stress on the word “compatible”.

It goes on to explain that the Web site was built by a community of individuals and companies sharing a common interest in promoting a fair, open, and diverse marketplace for mainframe solutions. There’s a big thank you to T3 Technologies (which describes itself as effectively out of business due to the direct actions of IBM – you may remember its tServer mainframe, based on FLEX-ES, was a great success) Microsoft Corporation (not a fan of IBM), the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA says it promotes open markets, open systems, open networks, and full, fair, and open competition), Peerstone Research (which advises customers on buying decisions), TurboHercules (which describes itself as the first commercial entity exclusively dedicated to Hercules, the well-known open source software implementation of the IBM mainframe architecture) and others.

This group of IBM-alternativists informs us that it believes IT customers can benefit from lower costs, increased innovation, broader choice, and better customer service when markets are truly open and multiple vendors compete for business. A sentiment that it’s hard to disagree with – unless, I suppose, you’re an IBM accountant!

The site lists a large number of laudable beliefs, including:
•    IBM mainframe system software, middleware, and intellectual property should be available to all solution providers and customers for licensed use on alternative hardware platforms under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
•    In order to promote interoperability, compatibility, and an open market for mainframe solutions, IBM should be required to publish interface and protocol information for mainframe technologies.
•    Given the strategic value of IBM-compatible mainframe systems for businesses and governments worldwide, multiple vendors should be allowed to participate in an open market for the supply of mainframe hardware, software, and services without interference from IBM. An open market will encourage price competition, differentiated innovation, and broader solution choices to meet the needs of customers.

I’ve got to say, that it’s a long time since I was at a site with an Amdahl mainframe or even a Hitachi one. Whatever happened to these Plug-Compatible Mainframes (PCMs). And IBM has squashed the life out of mainframe software emulation systems from organizations such as Platform Solutions and Fundamental Software. OpenMainframe.org is keen to see some kind of alternative to a monolithic IBM – hence the support for (and from) TurboHercules.

I’ve become a member. I’m a strong supporter of IBM, but I can also see the benefits from competition. I talk to people who wouldn’t even consider a mainframe solution at the moment – without understanding the benefits – who might think differently if there were a cheaper way of bringing them into the mainframe fold.

If you feel the same – and they list IBM’s assault on NEON’s zPrime as just one example of IBM’s tactic of crushing threats – then why not join as well?