Network World, 01/06/03
It has taken seven years and billions of dollars in development and acquisitions but IBM is now in position to achieve one more lofty goal: beating Microsoft at its own game.
Rivals such as Oracle, Sun and BEA Systems have felt Big Blue's muscle. Now Microsoft, IBM's sometimes comrade, sometimes competitor for the past 20 years, is the foe as the two giants have emerged as heavy favorites in a race to build software that connects systems, applications and business processes between and among corporations of any size....