Tom Inman: Fundamentally we are out-innovating them. You know, whether it is the patents that we have, or how quickly our engineers turn new innovations into new product features. Or if you'd like to compare and contrast, we can take any series of BEA announcements and look at how all they've done is to try to mirror what IBM has already announced.

For example, in April of this year IBM had a significant set of announcements around service-oriented architecture, or SOA. In this announcement we introduced some new offerings and laid out prescriptive approaches for clients and partners to realize value from implementing service-oriented architectures. In late May, BEA does the same.

IBM has been in the integration software market for years and we're the market leader. And now that IBM has pulled away as the clear market share leader in application server market - where BEA has traditionally been focused and has been a "one trick pony" - BEA tries to reposition themselves as an integration company. Another example is in the area of software to enable access to information and processes via pervasive devices. IBM has been delivering pervasive software for several years now and has significant assets and momentum around the pervasive space. In the areas of enabling enterprise clients to extend their middleware and application assets; to enable access from p pervasive devices; to enable connectivity and integration to business processes and systems with RFID devices; or for embedded solution providers to enable mobile computing like an automobile company to embed infrastructure in their automobile to enable various mobile services. IBM has won numerous design patterns and tremendous share in these categories of pervasive computing. Now, years later, BEA is announcing themselves as a mobile software provider. (Continued in WebSphere Journal, July 2004)

Read this entire exclusive interview in the print edition of WebSphere Journal, July 2004 issue, including on-the-record opinions from IBM partners.