Insights from John M. Thompson I'm very pleased to be a part of the first issue of The OS/2 Warp Monthly Newsletter. We at IBM are proud of the success of OS/2 Warp, and want to share with you news you can use regarding Warp. Since its release last fall, OS/2 Warp has been showered with critical acclaim. More importantly, it's been warmly embraced by customers, who have bought and installed more than 2 million copies. IBM is absolutely committed to doing everything we can to build upon and extend the OS/2 Warp success story. The success of OS/2 is essential if we're to achieve the central goal of IBM software -- to be the company that helps customers fulfill the promise of client/server computing. Our customers are committed to the distributed computing model because they can reengineer their businesses, making them more responsive to changing markets, by giving their employees access to more information and making them more productive. But they're also frustrated that they can't get full value from their client/server investments, because it's too expensive, too complex, and not yet reliable enough for the enterprise. IBM has the experience with mission-critical software that's needed to improve the reliability of distributed computing. We're also experts at managing the total cost of computing. And we recognize that we must deliver this functionality to customers in a way that's appealing to end users. And that means easy to obtain, easy to install, easy to use and easy to manage. That's why we're planning to introduce packages of IBM software for OS/2 and AIX that deliver the robust functionality of IBM's industrial strength middleware in easy-toinstall and -use suites. We've already introduced the SystemView Series to make our industry-leading systems management products available in one simple package. We're also shipping IBM WorkGroup on OS/2 this month. It provides an integrated palette of software products ranging from e-mail to document management and workflow, that makes it easy for groups to communicate and link their resources. And we're rapidly deploying leading-edge object technology. Our award-winning VisualAge development environment will greatly improve the speed and productivity of application development. OpenDoc will allow end users to create tailored applications from disparate parts. And with open frameworks from Taligent, software developers won't have to start from scratch each time they write an application. Guiding all of this is IBM's commitment to open industry standards, as represented by our Open Blueprint. This means IBM software will excel at supporting any client, any server or any network protocol. Customers can interoperate across any IBM platform or non-IBM system that complies with open standards. And OS/2 is a key part of the strategy. In addition to the success of OS/2 Warp as a client operating system, OS/2 is already the leading application server in the industry. We're building on this leadership with OS/2 Warp Connect, which makes it easy for small businesses or enterprise workgroups to harness the multitasking power of OS/2 to share data and resources. In order to continue to strengthen the success of OS/2 Warp, IBM has several important initiatives. First, we're investing heavily in marketing and promoting Warp, to give it the visibility it needs to reach millions of new users. Second, we're signing up leading PC makers like the IBM PC Co. and Dell in the U.S., Vobis in Germany and Osborne in Australia to preload OS/2 Warp on their PCs. Third, we've put together an aggressive program to accelerate the development of 32-bit applications for OS/2. We've recruited 22 major software developers with 76 new Intel-based and 48 new PowerPC-based applications in the first quarter alone. Finally, let me say a brief word about marketing, sales, service and support. We recognize that IBM has the best software products and technology in the world, but that we've sometimes been out-marketed by other companies. One of the most important goals of the new IBM software "company" is to improve our marketing, with a special focus on end users; to strengthen our sales capability; and to emphasize IBM's superior service and support. We need to duplicate the good marketing job we've done with OS/2 Warp across our entire software business. I've spent more of my time on these issues than any other in the past several months. We've been in business as an integrated IBM software organization only since January. But already, we can feel a new sense of spirit and determination to make IBM not just the largest, but the best software company in the world in the eyes of customers. Thanks for reading this first issue of the newsletter. We hope it will become an important and informative source you can rely on for the latest news about OS/2 Warp. Some background on John Thompson In January, John M. Thompson was tapped by IBM Chairman and CEO Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. to head the new IBM software "company." He is responsible for IBM's overall software strategy, marketing and development. Three divisions -- Personal Software Products, Software Solutions and Networking Software -- report to him. In addition, he gives guidance to the worldwide software sales organization and the software platform development organizations that reside in the server divisions. Mr. Thompson is an IBM senior vice president and group executive based in Somers, New York.