IBM Sets Pricing For SMB WebSphere Portal

Larry Bowden, vice president of portal solutions for the IBM Software Group, said the vendor plans to introduce a new per-user pricing model for WebSphere Portal, Express Edition. IBM officially plans to unveil the portal software next month and begin shipping it in October, he said.

The software will cost about $70 to $80 per user and carry a per-CPU price of $30,000, Bowden said. The enterprise version of WebSphere Portal starts at $65,000 per CPU, he said.

Twenty-four IBM business partners helped IBM design the new SMB portal software and its price points, Bowden said, adding that it was their feedback that inspired IBM to offer per-user pricing for the new portal configuration.

"Customers don't want to pay for 800 users if they only have 50," he said.

The SMB edition of WebSphere Portal will include a basic portal framework with user-management and registration capabilities, as well as security and single-sign-on functions, Bowden said. It also will feature personalization and built-in versions of a directory product and WebSphere Application Server.

Bowden cited current momentum for IBM's WebSphere Portal as a reason the SMB version should be successful with solution providers. "We haven't had to recruit partners for WebSphere portal; they've come to us," Bowden said.

Indeed, several consulting firms, including Sapient, Experio Solutions, Deloitte Consulting and SBI, are partnering with IBM to offer portal solutions to customers.

Deloitte uses a version of WebSphere Portal as the backbone for its CFO Portal solution, said Sam Silvers, principal and national practice leader for Deloitte's finance transformation services.

While Deloitte handles many global accounts, it also does considerable work in the midmarket, Silvers said. IBM's ability to tailor products for a diverse range of customers is a benefit of using WebSphere Portal, he said.

Silvers added, however, that IBM's recent purchase of PwC Consulting makes its services arm, IBM Global Services (IGS), "more of a competitor."

So far, IBM has been effective at keeping its software partnership with Deloitte separate from Deloitte's competitive relationship with IGS, Silvers said. It's up to IBM to continue to meet this challenge in the future, but Silvers said he is confident it can be done.

"We feel they can keep a firewall between the two sides," Silvers said.