BEA Targets Web Services

At BEA eWorld 2002 here last week, BEA unveiled its Cajun Web services framework in the form of the new WebLogic Workshop tool. During its annual developer gathering, the San Jose, Calif.-based vendor also discussed an integrated platform including Workshop and new versions of the WebLogic app server, portal and integration products.

The new product direction demonstrates BEA's technology prowess and spotlights its improved marketing savvy, said eWorld attendee David Reinke, CTO of Chicago-based solution provider Braun Consulting.

Other solution providers at eWorld agreed.

"Anyone who thinks [BEA is not robust enough to engage [competitors like IBM is mistaken," said Christian Pease, director of channel sales at Burntsand, Toronto. Still, Pease said that he "can't think of one example" of a major Web services deployment in the industry and that the technology remains immature.

Alfred Chuang, BEA founder, president and CEO, acknowledged that investing heavily in a nascent technology such as Web services is a gamble but said the move is a necessary risk to grow the company.

"If BEA was just sitting still and was sitting fat, dumb and happy with [its flagship product Tuxedo, which was a very successful product for us, we would have gone nowhere," he said.

At eWorld, BEA also unveiled a developer program called dev2dev, which Braun's Reinke said will be key to BEA's growth plans. BEA hopes dev2dev will help expand its developer base from 350,000 to 1 million by year-end. A linchpin of that effort will be Chief Marketing Officer Tod Nielsen, who joined BEA last year when it acquired Crossgain and who had masterminded Microsoft's developer program.

BEA also is enhancing its three-tiered Star Partner Program to make it easier to join, said Rauline Ochs, senior vice president of worldwide alliances. And to reduce conflict between its direct- and channel-sales teams, BEA is compensating direct-sales staff if its partner sales force meets revenue goals, she said. "It's very cool for us because you can tell the partners, 'Hey, the direct-sales team is working [toward the same objectives we are,' " said Ochs. "This isn't a channel conflict deal; this is a harmony deal."