Application Servers Not the Cash Cows They Used to Be
News.com is reporting that the Java application server market is becoming commoditized making life difficult for many enterprise software companies. The article states, "Now these software makers are finding it harder to eke out a profit, especially on their low-end application servers. Why? Because of a glut of me-too products, indistinguishable to buyers, along with brutal competition from very low-cost, or no-cost, alternatives."
Application servers have become critically important in Fortune 500 Web Development projects. Projects based on application servers like WebSphere or WebLogic are really expensive, although the bulk of the cost relates to the size of the development team and the complexity of the typical project where application servers are used.
The low-cost and no-cost alternatives include Tomcat, a part of the Jakarta project within the Apache Web Server project. Another project, which is less well-known, is JBoss an Open Source application server that aims at J2EE compliance.