Europe Pushes for Compatible Computers
Europe’s computer industry is pushing to establish standards that will allow everyone’s machines to work together, pitching it into a battle against International Business Machines.
A war of acronyms is brewing, with the major European computer manufacturers and governments defending OSI (Open Systems Interconnect) against IBM’s SNA (Standard Network Architecture), viewed by many in the industry as the enemy.
IBM insists that, in fact, it is on the same side as everyone else. This month it announced a software product that will allow its computers to work with OSI, which was developed by the Geneva-based International Standards Organization.
Some industry observers already concede victory to IBM, the world’s largest computer company, pointing to its 65% to 70% share of Europe’s mainframe computer market and the slow progress that OSI has made.
“We have supported OSI but if I had to put my money on it . . . I think it will be SNA,” said Daniel Wiedock, president of International Telephone & Telegraph in Europe. “As long as they keep responding to the mass requirements of the market it will be very difficult to unseat IBM.”
The standards issue is particularly crucial to the 10-member European Community. Almost every piece of electrical or electronic equipment works on different standards in different European countries, from plugs to televisions and telephones.
Computer users must adapt not only to different national standards but to the different internal systems, or architectures, of the manufacturers.
Traditionally, each computer company has developed its own proprietary architecture on the theory that once the customer spends several million dollars to buy and then master a particular system, he will remain loyal to that brand.
But as the pace of technology and innovation accelerated, customers increasingly demanded compatibility between different products that would allow them to pick and choose equipment rather than be locked into one supplier.
Most Important Issue
“I am struck by the fact that, in almost all customer situations I become involved in, the most important issue is connectivity,” said Jean-Claude Peterschmitt, chairman of the Digital Equipment group’s European division and a leader in the standards movement.
“The reason the computer industry is backing OSI is because the customer demands it,” he said.
European governments are also pushing OSI because it offers manufacturers a chance to increase sales beyond their borders.
The British government, for example, demands compatibility with the OSI standard for any equipment that connects into the country’s telecommunications network.
IBM does not see a conflict between OSI and SNA, its 11-year-old architecture that allows its disparate range of products to communicate with each other.
“IBM is fully behind OSI and always has been from the beginning,” said Kaspar Cassani, president of IBM Europe.
Acknowledging IBM’s market position, he added: “OSI implies an industrywide standard. It makes no sense whatsoever to make an industrywide standard that does not include IBM products.”
Differences of Opinion
There are differences of opinion on how OSI should be supported. IBM’s new product acts as an interpreter, translating the language of an OSI-based product into something that can be understood by SNA. But Digital Equipment announced in June that it would modify its own architecture to meet OSI standards.
It is also unclear whether OSI will become as important in North America as it is in Europe, an important factor for European companies if they are to increase sales in the largest computer market.
The U.S. government has not followed Europe in attempting to regulate the use of OSI and is unlikely to do so, while IBM says it has no plans to sell its own OSI product at home.
