It was bound to happen: Lotus decided that the free lunch is over for users
of its popular Domino Web application platform. As of July 1, customers who
access Notes applications through the Domino Web interface must pay a Client
Access License (CAL) fee of $30 per client. Lotus is also charging a $45 mail
access fee to customers using the Web to access Notes mail.
CALs are part of an industry trend in which companies charge customers for
using Web interfaces to interact with previously proprietary application
environments. Both Microsoft and Netscape have implemented similar policies for
their server products, so CALs are bringing Lotus' practices in line with
industry norms.
"The reality is you don't get something for free," said David
Smith, a sales manager for Integrators of Enterprise Solutions Midwest, a
systems integrator in Overland Park, Kansas, that is a Lotus business partner
and Microsoft Solutions Provider. "I think the jury is still out as to how
much [Lotus' decision to require a CAL] is going to impact Lotus' customer base."
Lotus' announcement caught at least one customer off guard. "We did
not expect to have to pay for internal people who do not have Notes to access
the [Domino-run] application," said Stoehr Sukachevin, a software
applications developer in the Department of Communications and Business Services
at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland. Sukachevin's group
recently began rolling out a series of Web-based Domino applications, including
a data-order management system that will eventually monitor Web-based orders.
Luckily, the group is using Domino's Web capabilities solely for application
hosting. Customers who use both applications and Notes mail will end up paying
both the CAL fee and the mail access fee.
Lotus' solution for avoiding its new fees is to buy the Notes client. With
other vendor platforms, the solution might not be that simple. For example,
Microsoft's Exchange and Outlook clients run on only a limited cross-section of
client systems, including various flavors of Windows and Macintosh. For many
customers, Outlook Web Access (the Web front-end to Exchange Server) is the only
option for their non-Windows or non-Mac users, making any attempts to force customers
into a more traditional full-client configuration that much more disruptive.
—Craig Barth
Merced Delay Saves Microsoft
Intel's announcement that it is delaying the introduction of its
next-generation Merced chip until the year 2000 is sending shock waves through
the PC industry. Particularly hard hit are the high-end server vendors, many of
which are now scrambling to fill the gaps in their future product plans. Of all
the major industry players the Merced delay directly affects, only one,
Microsoft, is still smiling.
Why is Microsoft (especially Microsoft's marketing team) so happy? Unlike
other vendors, Microsoft has nothing to lose and everything to gain by a delay
in Intel's 64-bit plans. Microsoft is still trying to get its 32-bit version of
Windows NT 5.0 out the door by next summer, leaving the company with neither the
time nor the resources to conduct a parallel 64-bit development program.
If Intel had shipped Merced in mid-1999 as initially planned, Microsoft
would have been 12 months to 18 months away from having a 64-bit NT operating
system (OS) capable of exploiting the UNIX platform. At Fall Comdex 1999, you
would have seen a lot of new 64-bit Merced server boxes from Sun Microsystems,
SCO, and others--but not from Microsoft. Thus, Intel's delay has granted
Microsoft a 12-month reprieve, generating a collective sigh of relief from the
Microsoft campus.
—Craig Barth
Exchange 6.0 Takes Shape
Microsoft Exchange Server customers desiring better scalability will see
their wishes come true with Platinum, the code name for Exchange Server 6.0. Due
90 days to 120 days after Windows NT 5.0 ships, Platinum will feature extremely
tight integration with Active Directory (AD). Microsoft officials claim that you
can leverage this integration to provide additional modularization within
Exchange's design. For example, you can install the directory and storage
services on different servers, a feat that was difficult using Exchange 5.5.
Other changes include a switchover from X.400 to Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP) as the internal message transfer protocol, Object Linking and Embedding
Database (OLE DB) support, and the ability to host instant-messaging sessions.
Platinum's promise of better scalability comes with a few strings attached.
The upgrade relies on AD, so customers must upgrade to NT 5.0 to tap Platinum's
scalability powers.
Such strings between Microsoft's platform and application products are
nothing new. Most Microsoft customers have been burned by a system requirement
that looked suspiciously like a forced upgrade. But forcing Exchange customers
to become early adopters of NT 5.0 is bound to cause a backlash because the
stakes are much higher. The NT 5.0 upgrade is truly massive, with millions of
new lines of code and a substantially reengineered kernel. These Exchange
customers might consider themselves guinea pigs rather than early adopters.
—Craig Barth
Team Pentium Pinch Hits for Merced
Like a veteran slugger called into the game to face the local pitching ace,
Intel is calling on its existing line of P6-based CPUs to fill in for its
delayed teammate, Merced. Starting this summer, Intel will begin a program of
accelerated CPU releases designed to keep the PC channel rolling while the
company performs last minute tuning on its next-generation chip.
First at the plate will be 450MHz and 500MHz Pentium II CPUs with the new
Katmai 3-D instruction set. These Slot 1-based chips will be targeted primarily
at workstation users with modest requirements (i.e., the corporate masses).
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