Toni Duboise, analyst for market researcher Current Analysis, sees the IBM products as a niche play, particularly for companies using Linux on desktops used in call centers, for example, or IT workstations. The software also may gain some traction in the mobile market.
"This really speaks volumes to Linux users," Duboise said. "(But) it's still a niche play for IBM. I don't see hordes of corporate users abandoning the standard that Microsoft has successfully implanted on the desktop."
In releasing its new software, IBM joins Sun Microsystems in challenging Microsoft, which controls more than 90 percent of the market with Office. Sun has racked up sales among businesses and government agencies with its server-based productivity suites called StarOffice and OpenOffice.
IBM, however, also offers plug-ins to Office, so the two products can work together within the same client environment.
Jeanette Barlow, market manager for IBM Workplace, played down the overlap between Office and the new IBM products.
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