Apple Reference & Presen…rary 8 (Internal Edition)/Apple R&P Lib Internal v8.0.iso/3-Presentations/Apple Computer Inc./Industry Competition/ROMs/IBM/June '90 IBM Comm. Ancmt.

Text File | 1990-06-24 | 6KB | 131 lines

IBM’s annual summer communications product announcement took place on June 19.
This year’s announcement was differentiated by a heaver than usual emphasis on
futures, statements of direction, etc. (see Appendix A).

IBM is attempting to position itself as a supplier of standards-based,
multi-vendor communications capabilities.  To this end the company announced
increased support for three major networking standards:  Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI), Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).  IBM also announced new support
and control programs for its LAN products.

IBM and FDDI
Along the way, IBM is attempting to freeze the market while it completes
product development.  This is especially true for FDDI.  IBM announced its
intention to provide FDDI backbone networks when it announced the 16 Mbps token
ring card in 1989.  Since then, FDDI chip sets and cards have come to market
(from AMD, National Semiconductor, and Sumitomo, CMC respectively).  Most
recently, AT&T announced a collection of FDDI bridges, routers and
concentrators.  IBM, it appeared, was falling behind.  Hence the FDDI statement
of direction.

Apple’s opportunity with FDDI lies in the creation of a market.  Every provider
of data transport will support FDDI.  We expect the preponderance of these
vendors to view FDDI as a mechanism to provide the same services they do now,
only faster.  As such their FDDI products will be positioned on the basis of
cost, throughput etcetera,  and they will be selling commodity like FDDI cards.
That may not be what customers really need.  If we look at the next generation
of office information system applications (e..g compound documents and
imaging), the availability of large quantities of bandwidth is not the key to
successful implementation.   The ability to deliver and integrate multiple data
types is.  This is the market, as opposed to providing faster versions of
today’s funtionality.  We believe Apple can establish itself as the leader
(and take the opportunity to demonstrate its capability as an innovator) by
positioning its FDDI products as  allowing “real time” manipulation of the data
types that comprise the next generation of mission critical applications.

IBM and multivendor networking
IBM is not in the process of becoming a multi-vendor company in the Apple N&C
sense.   For example we expect IBM’s preferred method of OSI transport to be
via SNA.  But IBM will be able to lift a page from Apple’s marketing book and
talk about the strategic environments its supports (IBM, OSI and TCP/IP).  Over
time we would also expect a demonstration on an OS/2 Extended Edition PC
running each of these environments in a separate window.

The other IBM announcements simply reflect marketplace reality.  OSI compliance
is a requirement for doing business with the U.S. Federal Government, the
European Economic Community and many multi-national corporations.  TCP/IP is
the de facto networking standard in the engineering/scientific community and
higher education and IBM must support TCP/IP if the RS/6000 is to be sold.


   Appendix A
Positioning and Directional Statements
• Intention to bring the mainframe based OSI/Communications Subsystem and OSI
File Services products to PS/2s and AS/400 systems.
• Wide-ranging support of OSI standards. IBM said “its systems and workstations
will participate in OSI networks and that it will support additional OSI
requirements”, including:
   OSI application standards for electronic mail, transferring files and
directories
   Methods for connecting OSI to local and wide area networks
   Protocols for managing networks
   Support for the varying worldwide government OSI profiles in use in North
America, Europe and Asia.
• Introduction, over the next two years, of a “number of local area network
products that conform to the FDDI standard.”
• These products “will include workstation and host attachments,
interconnections between FDDI, Token-Ring and Ethernet LANs, network management
solution for FDDI and backbone extensions for users who require greater
distance between workstations.”
• Detailed cable specifications to enable planning for future FDDI
installations.

Announced products

• TCP/IP Version 2 for VM:  included Simple Network Management Protocol, the
TCP/IP Network Management Protocol (which lets customers’ IBM systems
participate in the management of TCP/IP networks).  Other enhancements include
increased user and data security, improved graphics and more options for
writing applications ($15,200 to $35,840).
• Advanced Interactive Executive OSI Messaging and Filing/6000 (AIX
OSIMF/6000):  a new product intended top bring OSI messaging and file transfer
capabilities to the RISC System 6000.  AIX OSIMF/6000 also enables customers to
transfer files and send messages between OSI and TCP/IP networks ($2,500 to
$12,000).

• APIs of the OSI/Communications Subsystem product are now offered as a feature
of ACF/VTAM ($11,000 to $40,000).

• IBM Local Area Network Support Program version 1.2:  enables DOS PCs on
Ethernet LANs to communicate with each other and with OS/2 workstations on a
Token Ring network and share resources ($66 for one copy, $44 each additional
copy).

• IBM Distributed Console Access Facility Version 1.0:  allows one PC based
workstation to be controlled by another PC-based workstation.  The intent is to
allow better central-site administration and control for remote departmental
networks ($135 for one copy and $95 for each additional copy).

• IBM Token Ring Network 16/4 Trace and Performance Program  and Adapters:
provide a real-time view of traffic on an IBM Token Ring Network ($1,220).

• IBM Token-Ring Bridge program Version 2.2:  new dial - up support for public
switched network connections ($1,750).

• PC Network Enhanced Extender and the PC Network Baseband  Token Ring Bridge:
expands the distance between baseband PC networks from 800 to 2,600 feet and
increases the potential size of the network from 80 to 800 workstations.  The
bridge enhancements allow baseband PC networks to communicate with Token Ring
networks .