p2pnet - rss feed: IBM goes after Microsoft
p2p news / p2pnet: IBM plans to fork out more than $300 million to win customers and help revive its image with investors.
"Chief Executive Officer Sam Palmisano is spending half his $632 million annual ad budget on print and TV spots that feature an asterisk and the question, ‘What Makes You Special’?" – says Bloomberg News.
"The ads, championed by strategy chief Bruce Harreld, set up a showdown between IBM and Microsoft Corp. as the companies seek to bolster sales and stock prices. International Business Machines is the No. 2 software maker behind Microsoft, which this month announced a $500 million effort to win corporate customers by exploiting questions about IBM’s services strategy."
And to rub it in, "International Business Machines Corp. said it will roll out an aggressive strategy today to lure business customers away from rival Microsoft Corp., offering bounties of up to $20,000 to sales partners who can persuade companies to make the switch," says the Washington Post.
"The move is aimed at securing more of the $2.5 billion market for corporate e-mail systems and servers in which the two firms compete. Earlier this month, Microsoft launched a ‘People Ready’ marketing campaign and told its business partners that IBM had become too much of a ’services’ company that was not focused on catering to the software needs of its commercial clients.
"IBM counters that its Linux system has grown 230 percent over the past year and is finding a big appetite among business clients eager to upgrade and migrate out of Microsoft’s proprietary system. Unlike Microsoft’s Exchange and Windows systems, IBM’s Linux programs are interoperable with software developed by other firms. Even companies that keep Microsoft’s Outlook e-mail software can switch to IBM’s Domino server that operates it."
Also See:
Bloomberg News - IBM challenges Microsoft with huge ad buy, March 31, 2006
Washington Post - IBM Makes A Play for Microsoft’s Customers, March 30, 2006
