Application Servers

We started tracking this category way back in 2003, and at that time wondered
whether the sharp rise of this category was just a flash in the pan, or would it
continue to grow. I guess this write-up makes it clear.

App Servers are definitely here to stay, and in fact will continue to grow,
because they're a key ingredient for the much hyped Service Oriented
Architecture, or SOA. 64% of the users who responded to our survey already own
an application server, while another 58% plan to deploy them in the near future.
This shows the tremendous market potential which exists for this category of
products. Let's see which are the leading brands according to users.

Out of all the app servers out there, only three managed to get into the Usrs'
Choice future readiness club. Out of these, Oracle 9i/10g emerged as the most
future ready app server, followed by Microsoft's IIS and IBM WebSphere.

Oracle was also the second most persuasive brand of the lot, i.e. it enjoys
higher likelihood of purchsae than top of mind recall. This is always good for
the brand.

Oracle also has the second highest votes for brand pull, and the good thing
is that it has an overall positive pull, i.e. more users are likely to switch
into the brand than switch out. Not only that, but the brand also enjoys a high
degree of brand loyalty. 70% of its existing users said that they're likely to
stay with it in the near future as well. 17% said they're likely to switch to
other app server brands, out of which a majority of them voted for Sun.

If Oracle is moving at a speed of 100, then Microsoft IIS's relative speed is
85. Though it has more users likely to switch into the brand than switch out,
its brand pull ratio is still a little weaker than Oracle and IBM. Nevertheless,
it's gaining pull.

Brand loyalty for Microsoft's IIS is interesting. While 60% of its existing
users said they're likely to continue using it in the near future, only 9% said
that they're likely to switch to another brand. This is good, but there were
another 26% of its users who were not sure which brand to switch to. The
pendulum could therefore swing either in its favor or to competition, depending
upon how Microsoft leverages this opportunity.

IBM Websphere has a slightly slower speed compared to Oracle. Again, if
Oracle 9i/10g is moving at 100, then IBM's Webshpere is moving at 75. It's also
the third most persuasive brand. Its brand pull situation however, is the best
and the same as Oracle 9i/10g.

Its brand loyalty is at 60%, and only 12% of its existing users said that
they're likely to switch to another brand in the near future. Another 29%
weren't sure of which brand to switch to.

Other brands like Sun One, and Borland didn't get enough votes to make it to the
Users' Choice club.