IBM Expands Resources For ISVsIBM Expands Resources For ISVs

As part of its ongoing effort to foster third-party application development for its hardware and software businesses, IBM on Monday unveiled resources in its Virtual Innovation Center aimed at expanding participation by midmarket independent software vendors.

IBM has traditionally targeted top-tier ISVs such as PeopleSoft Inc. and SAP with its third-party program, but in March it began an effort to significantly increase participation by smaller ISVs, says Scott Hebner, VP of strategy and marketing for ISV and developer relations.

"This is a much deeper and broader program to work with thousands of ISVs that are much more regional in nature and industry-specialized," Hebner says. "Customers, particularly in the midmarket, are looking for application providers that really understand in a deep way their particular needs and requirements."

The IBM Virtual Innovation Center is an online portal with resources to help application developers build, port, and deploy solutions more quickly, as well as expand cooperative sales efforts with IBM.

New resources in the center include 18 guides that provide step-by-step instructions on how to develop and deploy applications on IBM systems. The guides, for example, can help ISVs port Windows, Linux, or Unix applications to Linux on Power systems, tune applications for IBM eServer Power5 systems, and market the applications.

IBM is also adding a "solution sizing" toolkit designed to help ISVs identify hardware requirements for their applications. The toolkit is comprised of an interactive questionnaire that lets ISVs determine the optimal system configuration for their applications based on specific workloads.

Also new is a virtual loaner program--a Web-based, simulated operating environment--based on IBM Virtualization Engine, IBM Tivoli, IBM WebSphere, and grid technologies for ISVs to use when porting and testing applications on AIX 5L Version 5.3 and SuSE Linux on Power5 processor technologies.