Sun lagging in Unix customers' eyes

By Jennifer Mears, NetworkWorld.com, 12/16/05

A new report by Gabriel Consulting Group found that Sun Microsystems, which still leads the Unix market in terms of the number of systems installed, lags rivals IBM and HP when it comes to customer satisfaction.

The IT research firm queried nearly 197 enterprise Unix customers about their experiences and perceptions of the major Unix vendors. IBM led the market in terms of technology and support services, with HP coming in second. Sun placed third overall. Dan Olds, principal analyst and CEO at Gabriel Consulting Group said in a statement detailing the survey results that he was surprised by the results, “particularly the order of finish.” While the survey only provides a quick look into customer attitudes, Olds says it likely is a good indicator of the way the market will shake out in terms of sales. Respondents expect IBM to be the dominant Unix vendor in five years, with Sun No 2. They suspect HP is the most likely vendor to drop out of the market altogether. Buy the full report here.

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I find it very unlikely that IBM will lead the open market with UNIX.

First, AIX is not even really UNIX.

Second, with IBM's primary push being Linux. Linux helps justify the existence of Mainframes through making use of partitions when spare cycles are available. There is very little AIX offers... unless IBM port AIX to Intel, actively markets AIX on their mainframes logical partitions, and a high-performance low-power PowerPC is released.

Third, the market is moving to low power 64 bit chips. IBM could not release a low power 64 bit PowerPC for Apple. This will further balkanize AIX since it will never be able to move into the low-powered 64 bit desktops/laptops.

Fourth, AIX is also effectively balkanized by their proprietary CPU - why has not FreeScale produced a 64 bit low power PowerPC for Apple when IBM could not come up with a roadmap?

In Conclusion, IBM may have invested a large lump sum into AIX, but unless IBM invests into high-performance 64 bit PowerPC with a low power consumption, growth opportunities will diminish for IBM AIX.

Posted by: David Halko on December 20, 2005 08:36 PM

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