Hewlett-Packard Co says it’s putting substantial marketing and development efforts into the emerging application server market, which it sees as a way of isolating applications from too much dependency on the operating system. HP is taking this space very seriously, and is working with several partners to develop the market, it says. That explains why HP signed a joint marketing deal with Persistence Software Inc (CI No 3,473) when it already had a similar deal with WebLogic Inc (CI No 3,428). Although HP admits there is some overlap between the two, it places Persistence at the high-end of the object space, and WebLogic as an entry-level system. But it says: no vendor yet covers the entire marketplace. Therefore it is also working with Ariba Technologies Inc on its resource management system; Netscape Communications Corp on Kiva, for high-end relational database applications; and with start-up Novera Inc on its mid-tier Jbusiness Java application server, which has good integration with its OpenView systems management products. HP claims to still be working closely with NetDynamics Inc, despite its acquisition by rival server vendor Sun Microsystems Inc (CI No 3,444). HP says it sees Sun’s purchase of NetDynamics as an admission by Sun that if you’re going to host Java Beans and Java applets then you need more services than JavaOS alone can offer. Application servers offer a collection of platform independent, internet- enabled services for scalable applications so developers don’t have to worry about scalability or operating system issues. HP says it hopes the market will eventually consolidate, and is keeping its eye on Oracle Corp, which launched its own application server yesterday (see Top Stories). Oracle could emerge in this space with a major product, it said. Meanwhile, HP says it will continue to work with its multiple partners, and promises further announcements over the next two months, saying it will have further news on which partnerships are the most important then.
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