July 17, 2002, 12:00 AM — The biggest challenge facing Java is a marketing one, agreed panelists
pondering the issue of "Supercharging Java with Web Services" at a Web
Services Edge conference keynote. Most outspoken of the group was
Javalobby Inc. founder and president Rick Ross, who harshly criticized
the infighting of major Java developers and suggested that Java
technology needs a concerted marketing push from its deep-pocketed
stakeholders.
Microsoft Corp. has effectively undermined Java, Ross said, drawing a
parallel between the "Java War" and ice skating's most notorious
scandal, Tonya Harding's involvement in the 1994 attack on her rival,
Nancy Kerrigan.
"When Nancy had her knee whacked by that guy Tonya hired, nobody
expected her to be able to go out and win. Java has to come back from a
position of disadvantage created by Microsoft. We need to get back,"
Ross said.
Microsoft is about to blitz the software world with its .Net framework,
and the Java community needs a counterattack plan, he argued.
Web services took a backseat as the panelists discussed ways to advance
the Java cause.
Microsoft has "raised the bar" on offering tools for application
developers, said BEA Systems Inc. WebLogic Workshop Engineering Director
George Snelling. The Java community has traditionally underinvested in
development tools and is only now beginning to catch up to what
Microsoft has made available, he said.
"Microsoft is actually ahead of the Java camp in a lot of ways," agreed
Borland Software Corp. Chief Strategy Officer Ted Shelton.
"Right now we're fighting with each other more than any of us are
fighting with Microsoft," Shelton added, a comment Ross enthusiastically
seconded.
"We've got to remember, we have to advocate for Java as a whole as the
platform (for building enterprise applications) before we compete," Ross
said.
When he suggests vendors of Java-based applications and development
tools spend money promoting the platform, the reply he usually gets is
that marketing Java should be the job of its creator, Sun Microsystems
Inc., Ross said. That attitude has to change, he argued.
"Everybody who thinks Sun is a great marketing company, raise your
hand," he said. Indicating the scant showing of raised hands in the
audience, he continued, "Right, and this is the company we're trusting
with the marketing of Java?"
Java's marketing issues aren't an insignificant problem, said Borland's
Shelton. In a recent survey Borland conducted of "C-level executives,"
i.e., top corporate officers, the predominant response from those
surveyed was "Java is over."
Respondents perceived that Java had been pitched to them as a panacea
for everything, and once it failed to deliver on that promise, they
became disenchanted with the platform and receptive to the promises of
Microsoft's .Net.
"How have we, as an industry, led our C-level people to believe Java was
going to solve the common cold and cancer, to the point where they're
now so fed up with it? That's the problem we need to solve," Shelton
said.
But not all is bleak in the outlook for Java. One of Java's key selling
points is its multivendor support, said BEA's Snelling, an asset that
should increasingly attract customers as they take a serious look at the
dangers of tying their enterprise infrastructure to Microsoft's
proprietary .Net.
"When a large company goes to renegotiate their enterprise licensing
agreement for (Microsoft) Office, it's not a pretty sight. All the price
power is with Microsoft. Now think what happens when you build your
crown jewels, your core enterprise infrastructure, on a single vendor's
solution. They can charge whatever they want," he said. "I think the
advantage of being in the Java community is our collective agreement not
to do that, to innovate and then standardize and compete on
implementation."
Although Microsoft may dominate the PC market, Java has the potential to
become the leading technology in developing niches that could soon dwarf
the sectors Microsoft has cornered, said Simon Phipps, Sun's director of
technology evangelism.
"In the mobile industry, Microsoft has so far completely failed to
assert monopolistic control," Phipps said. And mobile is the way the
industry is heading: There is a vast opportunity to wire cars,
appliances and a wide range of other devices, he said.
"All are worlds Java committed to working in. That's the reason I'm not
quite as worried as Rick is. Java is delivering in a way no monopolist
is able to do at this moment," Phipps said. "Dinosaurs have their days
numbered. They'll still be around, but they're going to be perching on
the edge of the arena, not stalking in the center of it."
