Its new acceptance that there are other manufacturers with equipment that people want to use – forced on it by the realisation that it is taking a much smaller proportion of the data processing dollars of its major customers that it did a decade ago, means that IBM is having to consider putting its software onto alien hardware: the NetView network management Service Point now runs on Sun Microsystems Inc, and OfficeVision and even transaction processing, which to most IBM people means CICS could go onto third party kit – at least it makes IBM’s development more profitable.
