NCR signs Independence to port transaction software; Top End line's targets: Unix platforms marketed by Sun, IBM, HP, Pyramid

Electronic News, May 11, 1992 by Gerry Khermouch

Top End' Line's Targets: Unix Platforms Marketed by Sun, IBM, HP, Pyramid

DAYTON, OHIO -- In a bid to broaden acceptance of its Top End transaction monitor, NCR signed an agreement with Independence Technologies Inc. under which the Fremont, Calif., firm will port the on-line transaction processing software to Unix platforms offered by Sun, IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Pyramid.

The step to move Top End beyond NCR's own Intel-based NCR 3000 line, for which it has been available for a year now, comes as observers expect the market for Unix-based OLTP systems to start heating up. Both IBM and a Pittsburgh-based start-up called Transarc, that is funded in part by IBM and HP, are working to bring their own Unix transaction monitors to market, as commercial customers increasingly show interest in consolidating their applications onto Unix platforms.

The deal "is a big move for NCR. Top End is a nice product, but it's still locked out of many markets" because it runs only on NCR machines, said Dave Hudson, director of the transaction processing marketing service at Standish Group, Hyannis, Mass. While the market is still very small, Mr. Hudson added, vendors are intensely jockeying for position now in anticipation of its rapid growth as Unix achieves increasing acceptance for mission-critical commercial applications.

Under the agreement, Independence will port and distribute Top End for Sun's Sparc-Server line, HP's HP 9000 line, IBM's RS/6000 line and Pyramid's MIServer line. Independence also will work with NCR to integrate Top End with Independence's object-oriented iTran ToolKit line to enable end-users to better develop their own custom applications.

While it was initially expected that the Sun platform would be the first to get the port, the aggressive inroads being made by HP's Unix line prompted a change in the timetable, said Independence's vice president of marketing, Jeff Stern. Now, the HP port is expected to be ready in eight weeks, with the others to follow by the third quarter.

David B. Finlay, senior product manager at NCR, said the agreement with Independence also is noteworthy in that it is "virtually a first for NCR to release a product as source code," rather than delivering binaries directly to end-users.

In addition, provisions have been made to encourage licensees like Independence to feed back their own enhancements to NCR for use in subsequent releases of Top End. That represents a contrast with the other major available TP monitor, Tuxedo, where "If you do enhancements you've got to convince them in a big way to use them," Mr. Stern said.

While Tuxedo, the first major Unix TP monitor in the market, was developed by NCR's parent, AT&T, it is also Top End's key competitor among commercially available TP monitors. Over the past year AT&T has moved to spin off some of the equity in Unix System Laboratories, which developed and retains ownership of Tuxedo, even as it acquired NCR, made it the core of AT&T's own computer operations and last June designated Top End as the strategic TP monitor for the combined operations.

While Tuxedo and Top End are already established in the market, the competition will get thicker in the next few months as Transarc brings out its Encina monitor (EN, Jan. 21, 1991), while IBM proceeds with an X/CICS version of its proprietary mainframe-based CICS software that is tailored to its AIX implementation of Unix. IBM has said it intends to sell both Encina and X/CICS through its sales force, but Mr. Hudson said it is not clear yet how the company intends to position the two.

Privately held Independence, with sales last year of $13 million and a staff of 130, claims to offer OLTP systems to which customers can configure their preferred hardware platform, relational database software, network, graphical user interface (GUI) and transaction monitor. The GUIs currently include OpenLook and Motif, but Independence also is moving toward Windows 3.1.