MICROSOFT, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, AIMS TO DESTROY NETSCAPE

Major information technology suppliers initially viewed the arrival of the Internet as a technology in search of a solution, much like the early PCs in the late 1970s. Netscape Communications Corp., founder and chairman, James C. Clark, admitted during a speech at the Design Automation conference this month in Las Vegas, Nev. that Netscape was founded without a clear vision of where money was to be made on the emerging Internet.

Clark said Netscape was formed to take advantage of the unit volume expected from the rapid growth of Internet clients. Viewed in retrospect, Clark’s premise was well founded, though the company has yet to make large revenue from browser sales. What promises to be the most lucrative revenue source for the company is the Intranet, internal networks within large enterprises to disseminate information inside the corporation.

“ The overnight adoption of Intranets—internal corporate TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) networks that carry Internet-developed applications like the Web—will force major network software vendors to immediately recast their strategies,” according to a recent report from Forrester Research.

Intranets were the natural evolution of distributed client-server computing. With many independent servers located across a corporation’s various geographic locations, the corporate network resembled the Internet. Providing browsers to clients and turning each server into corporate websites allowed users ease-of-use access to corporate information.

“ Most companies have all the required elements for an Intranet staring them in the face: routers everywhere, TCP/IP on a pile of PC desktops, plus Web servers and browsers coming out of the woodwork,” says Paul Callahan, director of Forrester’s Network Strategy Service. “It’s so easy to build an Intranet, it’s hard to resist.”

Caught unawares by the sudden emergence of the Intranet, Microsoft realized its enterprise strategy with Windows NT was being undermined by these upstart Internet companies. It reacted suddenly using the most effective weapon in its arsenal, Windows NT. It gave away the Web software to its customers.

But the initiative did not end there. Early this month, Microsoft took direct aim at Netscape with its Normandy announcement. The software is designed specifically for Internet service providers (ISPs), network operators, cable companies and commercial Web sites.

The new platform offers the power to support tens of thousands of concurrent users, the scalability to support millions of users per day, and the openness to work with applications and extensions developed by Internet developers.

In addition, at his keynote speech to the Spring Comdex this month in Chicago, Ill. Paul Maritz, the group vice president of Microsoft’s Platform’s Group says the company will improve the integration between its World Wide Web browser, Explorer, and the Windows 95 and NT operating system, thus permitting users to search for information locally or on the Internet.

This latest move lends credence to Clark’s concern that Microsoft believes its survival depends on destroying Netscape. Clark suggests that if this is the case, then perhaps Microsoft may not survive.

<BACK