Software : Application Server —Middleware

This is an old segment that was dominated by IBM Websphere till last year

with Oracle close on its heels. This year, the top two have exchanged their

positions, so Oracle 9i/10g takes the top spot this year, followed closely by

IBM Websphere. Others that made it to the Users' Choice Club 2010 club are

Novell, Microsoft IIS and Sybase. IBM Websphere enjoys the highest top of mind

recall, current brand ownership and loyalty amongst the survey's respondents. On

a relative scale, Oracle 9i/10g enjoys the highest shift-in from other brands

moving in to Oracle.

Oracle 9i/10g has strong or very strong brand perception across all industry

verticals we surveyed except services. Region-wise, its very weak in the east.

IBM Websphere on the other hand needs to build stronger brand perception in the

IT/ITeS segment, and regionally, needs to work on strenghtening its presence in

North.

Users' Choice Club 2010

IBM and Oracle have exchanged their positions this year, with Oracle 9i/10g gaining the top spot.

Future Brand Preference Reasons

91% of users who are likely to buy Oracle 9i/10g gave product quality as their key reason.

In the reasons for brand preference, we found 91% respondents who were likely

to go for Oracle 9i/10g gave product quality as their reason, with IBM Websphere

lovers at 77%. 60% of users who were likely to buy Oracle 9i/10g gave its

initial price as the key reason, with IBM Websphere trailing at 55%. IBM

Websphere scores over Oracle 9i/10g in brand value and after sales

service/support.

Brand Loyalty 2010 vs 2009

Oracle 9i/10g and IBM Websphere saw a decline in brand loyalty over last year, and MS IIS saw a significant gain.

Both IBM Websphere and Oracle 9i/10g need to be a littel careful about their

loyal customers. They've lost brand loyalty over last year. This year, 42% of

the respondents who said they were currently using Oracle 9i/10g are likely to

stay with it in the future as well, which is a decline of 17% over last year.

Similarly, IBM Websphere's brand loyalty stands at 43%, which declined by 2%

over past year. Microsoft IIS and Sybase on the other hand saw a gain in brand

loyalty over last year. There was no change in brand loyalty in case of Novell.