By Peggy Watt
Network World, 6/29/98

With browser wars in the limelight, is anyone worrying about the back end?

Not really, according to a recent Intranet survey, which found that intranet managers across the country are pretty satisfied with their Web server software.

The survey reveals the 200 respondents are smart buyers who shop to meet their priorities. And what these intranet managers are choosing isn't a surprise: Web servers from Microsoft Corp. and Netscape Communications Corp. dominate intranets.

Leading the smattering of other servers represented on corporate Webs is The Apache Group's freeware Apache Web Server. Runners-up of note include Lotus Development Corp.'s Domino and IBM's WebSphere Application Server.

Nearly one-third of those surveyed say they run a mix of Netscape and Microsoft Web servers. Thirty seven percent use only Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) running (of course) under Windows NT; 19% use only Netscape Enterprise Server under Windows NT, Macintosh and Unix. Apache is in third place with 18% of the respondents using the Unix Web server.

Don't worry, they're happy Who are the happiest intranet Webmasters? Apache users declared themselves a "very satisfied" 4 on a scale of 1 to 5. Netscape users placed second, but just barely, posting an overall satisfaction rating of 3.87 to Microsoft users' 3.81.

Microsoft customers represented the largest opinion spread. IIS was the only product users described as "exceeding expectations" in one feature category - ease of installation, which Microsoft has made a priority. But Microsoft's customers are also the only ones who put tallies in the category of "not at all satisfied" overall. The dissatisfied Microsoft users are only a tiny fraction - 0.8% of those surveyed - but still, no Netscape or Apache users described themselves as such.

"My fear with going with Microsoft's server is it restricts you to Windows NT," says David Summer, senior planning engineer with Blue Cross of California, a subsidiary of WellPoint Health Networks, Inc. in Woodland Hills. The company still has the Apache Web Server it started with, when Web applications were an unbudgeted IT experiment.

Microsoft clearly has entered some companies through bundling.

"We've standardized on Windows NT and IIS comes with NT, so that made the decision easier," says Ramon Castillo, an applications specialist with SmithKline Beecham Laboratories, Inc. in Tampa, Fla. He hopes Microsoft's efforts to provide all the components for an intranet will ensure compatibility and easy evolution.

Intranet managers, although a generally satisfied lot, say they'd like better service and support. "We have put some good dollars into a Microsoft support contract so we can be in a position to get what we need," says a network manager for a Midwest architectural design firm.

In addition, Microsoft and Netscape servers could use better documentation, the managers noted. Apache users didn't complain about documentation. There's a healthy selection of online resources about Apache maintained by the Web server's fans.

Good matches

Users are equally satisfied with Netscape's and Microsoft's user authentication schemes. Apache users rate themselves less satisfied on this front, but it is a feature that both Microsoft and Netscape have emphasized in their development.

IIS users said scalability is less important to them. That's for the best, because some reviewers have taken Microsoft to task to improve that function.

Apache users, on the other hand, said scalability is important to them and that their server of choice meets those needs. In fact, Apache's fans are more satisfied than users of the other two vendors' products in this category. This isn't too surprising, however, since Unix is known for its scalability.

Likewise, Apache users are happier than IIS or Enterprise Server customers about customization options, a factor listed as important by all users.

"We're connecting more and more of our databases to the intranet," says Stuart Shull, LAN administrator at Travis Air Force Base in northern California, speaking of his need for customization options. The IIS integration with SQL Server and Access helps make that easier, he says.

"Database lookup gets more important all the time," says Dale Van Aman, manager of network services with Brown-Foreman Corp., a whiskey distiller in Louisville, Ky. As it builds extranet sites for partners and customers, the company is developing Web access to its databases.

"We want to use standards that are going to be around in the future," Van Aman says. The company standardized on Microsoft products.

Also mentioned as priorities were log file capabilities, reputation of the vendor and the product and the vendor's perceived financial stability.

Buyers who weighted the reputation of the company and its products as important are more likely to go with Microsoft; those who named the vendor's financial stability as a consideration indicated they chose Microsoft or Apache before Netscape.

What's not a big deal?

News service readers trailed the list (rating only 2.46 on the 1-to-5 scale), underneath mail services (3.20) and the ability to support remote content (3.35).

Interestingly, price was not an issue for most of those surveyed (3.60 on the importance scale) - and cross-tabulations of the survey results showed - surprise! - that those for whom price was an issue are more likely to choose Apache.