“The IBM Small Business Suite for Linux will include DB2,
WebSphere and Lotus Domino. That’s not news, though. Those software
packages all [have] been long available on Linux. What makes this
interesting is that IBM claims that the products are now integrated
to form a nearly seamless server. Moreover, a combined host/client
installation program, dubbed IBM Suites Installer, could make
setting up a LAN a lead-pipe cinch.”
“Suites Installer, believe it or not, is the most innovative
part of the Suite. This program not only installs and to an extent
customises the server software; it also does the same for the
Windows and Linux clients. A solutions provider could, for
instance, use a loaded laptop to install the whole system from
desktop display to DB2 database schema all in one
operation.”
“Better still, IBM is providing the application programming
interfaces (API) and other nuts and bolts for independent software
vendors (ISV)s and integrators to add their own software
applications to an installation. In practice, you should be able to
install, say, your own custom medical services vertical application
or a house-brew e-commerce package when you deploy the IBM
suite.”