eWeek Thinks Xserve Has A Chance

by , 11:00 AM EDT, May 28th, 2002

As the dust from Apple's Xserve announcement begins to settle, industry watcher aren't waiting to offer their opinions about Xserve, Apple's latest foray into the cipher-locked chambers that are corporate IT server rooms. The biggest question on most people's minds is whether Apple can really make a dent as a server vendor. eWeek's Henry Baltazar thinks Apple has a shot and says as much in an article titled "Apple Takes Several Advantages Into the Server Market." From the article:

Although it would seem like suicide to enter the rough-and-tumble server market, where margins are relatively slim and price wars are commonplace, Apple does have a few things going for it.

He believes Apple's nimbleness gives it an advantage, and its ability to use trend setting technologies may keep it at least on par with the competition. Still, for every ying there's a yang, and Mr. Baltazar believes that Apple has some sizeable yangs. From the article:

The success of a platform is ultimately determined by the application support it gets.

[...]

Service and support will be another major issue for Apple to tackle. The company is ready to launch with four-hour onsite support and 24-by-7 phone and e-mail support, but claiming and delivering this level of support are two very different things. When security vulnerability and bugs are discovered, Apple must be able to create and deliver patches to its clients in a timely manner.

Stop by eWeek and read the full article.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Even Apple has admitted that being a server vendor places it in relatively new territory, and that they have a lot to learn, but we think Apple is up to the task.

One of the first things Apple has to learn about being a UNIX vendor is how to incorporate all of the acronyms UNIX gurus like to use in its literature. In the eWeek article Mr. Baltazar refers to ISVs. We can make some wild guesses as to what an ISV is; Inter-Stellar Vehicle, International Studabaker Vendors, or perhaps Invertedly Sliced Venison. ISV actually stands for Independent Software Vendors, which Oracle happens to be.

Why independent, and not Third Party Software Vendors (TPSVs), or just plain Application Vendors (AVs)? It could be that these vendors are platform independent, and so different than, say, um, er, OK, we've got one: Ambrosia Software. (Wait! Doesn't Ambrosia make a Windows compatible game now? Rats!) Oh well, you know what we mean. It could also just be another way to talk about app makers in lofty terms, thus adding to the mystique of UNIX.

Yep! Apple has a lot to learn, and so do we.

Apple Takes Several Advantages Into the Server Market