WebSphere Revolution

satisfaction. IBM recognized the value of customer input on such a groundbreaking project and they wanted to know how people were actually using the code. IBM actively called each customer for feedback it was very valuable information and fed directly back into development. The result of the team’s herculean effort was a tiered set of offerings known as WebSphere Application Server V2.0, first announced at La Gare in Paris on September 21, 1998. In attendance were IBM Business Partners, analysts, media, and IBM customers from around the world. The key message— WebSphere was now much more than a Web application server—it was an integrated solution for e-business. IBM was making WebSphere “The Internet Brand.” Interestingly, the Paris announcement marked the first time an IBM brand was launched outside the United States. Why did the marketing team choose to launch in Paris? Because they wanted to emphasize that WebSphere was not a ”U.S. only” offering but rather a worldwide brand in an increasingly global marketplace. From there, IBM continued to promote the new face of WebSphere through consistent advertising around the world. WebSphere Application Server V2.0 starting shipping in December of that year and a new era of WebSphere was underway. But the work was far from over. Sue Wallenborn recalls how rolling out the new WebSphere around the world created additional challenges. For example, in the finance industry the details of interacting with central banks vary greatly from country to country. So soon after the announcement of WebSphere Application Server V2, IBM formed teams in various places such as Barcelona, Spain; Yamato, Japan; Böblingen, Germany; Beijing, China; and others charged with localizing the WebSphere function so that it could efficiently deal with the various national banking systems. There was a similar situation in the telecommunications industry and other industries all around the world. It was an enormously complex set of requirements but that’s what it took to deliver the worldwide, enterprise-class application server IBM’s customers were asking for. And rip-roaring success was confirmation that IBM had gotten it right. Robert LeBlanc recalls, “One day we were at a senior executive review in the old IBM headquarters building in Armonk. John Thompson, IBM Sr. Vice President, looked at me and he was really confused about what this WebSphere thing was. One of our engineers said, ‘You know this is really CICS for the Web.’ John asked Robert if WebSphere could ever be a billion dollar business for IBM. At the time I think we had revenues of about a million dollars. Robert looked John straight in the eye and said, ‘Absolutely John ,’ but at that time I had no idea. We had no idea. And now when you think of WebSphere being a multi-billion dollar business it feels pretty good.” More on the Web • Article in Distributed Computing about Component Broker (1998) • WebSphere integration plans announced (press release 9/21/98) • WebSphere v2 announced (12/15/98) • WebSphere v3 announcement (press release 9/20/1999) • WebSphere Application Server Today on IBM.com “WebSphere is at the confluence of three major trends transaction processing, distributed computing, and the World Wide Web.” —Albert Spector, then CEO of the IBM subsidiary Transarc 1998 Japan launches a probe to Mars thus becoming a space exploring nation. 1998 WebSphere Application Server v2 is announced in Paris, France. 23 http://www.remidubois.com/Remi%20duBois%20Consulting/DC698.htm http://www.remidubois.com/Remi%20duBois%20Consulting/DC698.htm http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/2467.wss http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/2467.wss http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/index.wss?DocURL=http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/rep_ca/2/897/ENUS298-472/index.html&InfoType=AN&InfoSubType=CA&InfoDesc=Announcement Letters&panelurl=index.wss?index.wss&paneltext=Announcement%20letter%20search http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/2052.wss http://www-01.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/index.html?S_TACT=103BGW01&S_CMP=campaign http://www-01.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/index.html?S_TACT=103BGW01&S_CMP=campaign

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of WebSphere Revolution

WebSphere Revolution Table of Contents The Rise of Internet Business WebSphere Takes the Stage WebSphere Application Server Evolves Beyond the Application Server WebSphere and On Demand Business New Flexibility through SOA An Eye Toward the Future

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