Computerworld - IBM and BEA Systems Inc. hold the lead in the application server software market, but the recent release of the first J2EE-compliant open-source offering from JBoss Inc. could spark more corporate users to check out new options.
A half-dozen users of leading commercial offerings told Computerworld that they're beginning to explore open-source alternatives and that Java 2 Enterprise Edition compliance is important to them. But how soon or how seriously open-source application servers might challenge the market leaders is unclear.
"We will eventually implement open-source servers to help minimize costs, but our strategy is to deploy low-risk apps to them," said Gus Tepper, vice president of software development in the interactive division at First American Title Insurance Co. in Santa Ana, Calif.
First American's interactive division currently uses BEA's WebLogic application server. The unit is considering open-source options for "well-established, nonchanging applications," according to Tepper. But that will happen only after "very long and rigorous test cycles," he added.
"Common sense tells us the future of reliability and scalability comes from clusters of commodity-based hardware and not large proprietary boxes," said Chris Brien, a systems analyst at Mark's Work Wearhouse Ltd. in Calgary, Alberta.
The retail chain is using IBM iSeries servers, which bundle WebSphere with the hardware, so open-source application server software isn't yet part of its IT planning, according to Brien. But he said he expects that will change.
Thomas Murphy, an analyst at Meta Group Inc., said that his firm has seen open-source application servers primarily used for development purposes but that it's starting to see corporate uptake of the JBoss Application Server in production applications. Still, the JBoss server's market share remains small, at about 5%, Murphy said.
Some companies, such as Hawaiian Electric Co., continue to harbor concerns about support. The Honolulu-based power company runs the Apache Tomcat servlet container in its test environment and has debated bringing the server into production, according to Richard Eber, director of development services.
"The IT staff is spread so thin that it is difficult to be able to develop an in-depth knowledge in any one product," he said. "If we were to use an open-source application server in production, we would need to have a support contract with someone we could call 24-by-7 in case we got in over our heads."
Eber said Hawaiian Electric has been a Microsoft shop for years and is only beginning to get its arms around J2EE technology. So far, that tends to be when one of its software products requires J2EE, such as the Vignette Corp. software that supports its Internet and intranet presence.
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