Microsoft took the covers off a new Website Thursday aimed at convincing IBM WebSphere customers to move their applications to Windows.
Named WebSphereLovesWindows.com, the site purports to prove that users can knock down hardware costs by as much as two-thirds by simply adopting less-expensive Intel servers and, of course, Microsoft software.
“Given the current economy, we’re looking for places our customers can save,” Steven Martin, senior director of developer platform marketing at Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), told InternetNews.com.
Of course, it’s just that much better if IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) loss becomes Microsoft’s gain.
The site’s main aim is to convince IT decision makers that Intel-based servers running Windows Server 2008 are as capable, if not more so, of running high transaction WebSphere enterprise applications as IBM AIX systems.
Microsoft’s white paper also aims to put to rest the idea that Windows on Intel CPUs are suitable for “departmental” servers but not for enterprise business critical tasks.
Martin said that Microsoft pitted an IBM stock trading system, running on IBM Power 570 servers with WebSphere 7 and AIX 5.3 against HP (NYSE: HPQ) BladeSystem C7000s running WebSphere 7 and Microsoft Windows Server 2008.
The IBM configuration cost $260,128, while the HP-Microsoft-based set up cost $87,161 — about a third the cost of the IBM system. Beyond cost, however, Martin claims that the HP system also outperformed the IBM — with 11,000 transactions per second (tps) versus 8,000 tps on the Power 570.
“If you’re running WebSphere, I can save you money and increase your performance,” Martin said.
Not surprisingly, IBM was miffed at Microsoft’s blatant attempt to poach its customers, but chose a low-key response.
“We were amused when we read the Microsoft disclaimer that clearly stated ‘Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented’ in the report that forms the basis of these claims,” said Ron Favali, an IBM spokesperson, in an e-mail to InternetNews.com.
Update adds comments from IBM.
