Innovators on board; masses still waiting - OS/2 LAN Manager

Software Magazine, Nov, 1989 by Paul Korzeniowski

Currently, much of the customer information is stored on Digital Equipment Corp. VAX systems, according to Stephen Harkness, a project manager at Bridge Information Systems.

The company has a two-phase program for ussing SQL Server. In the first phase, microcomputers will access information stored on VAXs. In the second phase, information will be stored on an SQL server. The entire project is slated to be completed by the end of the year.

Another area of interest is communications software. In June 1988, IBM delivered its OS/2 Extended Edition, which bundled communications and database management software with the OS/2 operating system. The communications software supported LAN Manager, IBM 3270 terminal emulation, IBM's Logical Unit 6.2 protocol and X.25 connections.

In April 1989, Microsoft teamed with Digital Communications Associates Inc. in Alpharetta, Ga., to announce an alternative to OS/2 Extended Edition. The gateway, which is scheduled to ship by the end of the year, will also support IBM 3270, IBM LU 6.2 and asynchronous communications.

3Com Corp. in Santa Clara, Calif., has announced a version of its MaxAccess SNA gateway that supports LAN Manager. This product, scheduled to ship in the middle of 1990, also works with IBM 3270 and asynchronous communications.

LAN gateways represent the fastest growing sector of the IBM 3270 terminal emulation market, according to IDC. Shipments of LAN gateways grew by 200% in 1988 compared to 10% growth in workstation packages.

RANGE OF DELIVERY TIMETABLES

Users, analysts and vendors agree that eventually applications that exploit LAN Manager will be delivered. But the timeframe for delivery varied dramatically. "A lot of applications will be available by the end of 1989," stated Lowery of Micrografx.

To truly take advantage of LAN Manager, MS-DOS and Netbios applications have to be rewritten. Dale Kutnick, the president of Meta Group, a consulting firm in Westport, Conn., said, "Vendors underestimated the task of designing OS/2 software. Applications have to be written from scratch and that process requires at least two years."

LAN Manager has only been shipping since November 1988.

Right now, most microcomputer software vendors are concentrating on delivering Presentation Manager applications. The transition from an MS-DOS character-based interface to OS/2's graphics interface has proven difficult for many. Vendors have to protect customer training invenstments in the character-based interface while adding new functions that take advantage of the graphics interface.

FEW OS/2 DEVELOPMENT TOOLS

This problem is compounded because relatively few OS/2 software development tools are available. The Mirrors tool from Micrografx lets vendors port applications written for Microsoft Windows to Presentation Manager. Additional tools are slated for delivery at the end of 1989.

Because much of the design work required for Presentation Manager can be used to deliver LAN Manager applications, analysts and software suppliers see it as an advantage.