Hewlett-Packard Co has decided to rip out its own object technology infrastructure and ship in Orbix object request broker piping from Iona Technologies Ltd which will be used internally and sold to customers. For Dublin-based Iona, now ‘bes’ friends’ with Microsoft Corp on Component Object model, it’s a big win. It’s giving HP runtimes to its C++ and Java-based distributed object technologies to distribute – deals for the SDK and support have yet to finalized. HP decided six months ago to stop developing its own ORB Plus and Java ORB Plus brokers although it hadn’t made any plans public until now. It’s part of HP’s ongoing plan to discontinue creating its own software where it can license best of breed products from third parties and redirect research and development funds to its core strengths. It recently sent its Intelligent Warehouse data warehousing software off to Platinum Technology Inc and will be getting DCOM-on-Unix direct from Microsoft Corp. It had planned to work with Microsoft’s supposed DCOM-on-Unix partner Software AG, but the way HP tells it Microsoft has taken the DCOM-on-Unix ball back from SAG leaving HP and other vendors no choice of supplier. HP says it will announce licensing details in a month or so, at the same time as it reveals a technology partner to supply it with LDAP directory services. HP says it’s clear LDAP has won over alternative directory technologies such as X.500 – HP’s own X.500 work still lives down in the bowels of the OpenMail group – and it will reveal a complete LDAP roadmap late next month.
