IBM in pact with Borland for free DB2 software

NEW YORK: International Business Machines Corp, seeking to steer corporate software developers away from rivals Oracle and Microsoft, on Monday said it struck a deal with Borland Software Inc. The deal calls for Borland to include a free version of IBM's DB2 database software with its programming tools that are used by as many as 3 million software developers to design custom software programs for use inside businesses.

Businesses use databases to store and manage software applications. IBM competes in the database market against software giants Oracle Corp., the No. 1 maker of database products, and Microsoft Corp. "It's strategic to us because we're on an urgent mission to make sure that the development community is aware of their choices for applications," said Jeff Jones, director of strategy for IBM's data management solutions, which includes its DB2 database.

The news comes a week after Borland said it signed a similar deal with IBM rival BEA Systems Inc. Borland also has agreements with Oracle and Microsoft. Under the terms of the deal, IBM will give away trial copies of Borland's software program development tools -- Delphi Studio, Kylix, and C++Builder -- with its DB2 database software.

In return, Borland will include a copy of IBM's DB2 database with its development tools. Developers will get to use the database for free until but corporations will ultimately have to pay for the product if they choose to make the developers' software programs available to their workers. "IBM has tremendous access to big-time enterprise customers and Borland has a huge following of independent developers that don't necessarily work in Big Blue accounts," Frank Slootman, Borland's senior vice president for software products, said.

"Our purpose in life is to move up the food chain and get access to the IBM world and IBM's goal in life is to get access to the masses of developers out there that they can't reach with their brand and distribution," he added. Jones said IBM's DB2 database already supported all the main software programming tools, including those offered by Microsoft and IBM's own Websphere tools.

© Reuters