EDITORIAL - Stop whingeing and start doing

Casting the runes is about the most scientific way of finding out what the effects of the leading technology trends are likely to be in the coming months. It can certainly beat looking at some of the market research firms' findings. But Datapro (a subsidiary of the Gartner Group) has produced some US-based research into corporate network management which gives intriguing insights into how resellers across the pond view themselves and how they see the software industry developing.

Once again, the report seems to show that where in the UK we call a Var a Var, in the US, the term systems integrator has taken root like a hogweed.

The report unsurprisingly claims ascendancy for Windows NT here and companies running Sun Microsystems' Solaris are in a poor second place, with Hewlett Packard's HP UX a good third.

As UK companies begin to batten down the hatches ready for the coming recession, the word from the US seems to be that companies over there are planning to expand their networks over the next few years. Hence the need to get the networking infrastructure right. Whatever the implications for the enterprise, it does seem that in the US many companies are looking to the long term while preparing for the possible short-term economic hard landing. Can it be that too many are worried about the implications of the Department of Justice's case against Microsoft and the possibility of the company being broken up?

Despite NT 5 now being even further away from a release date, Bill Gates has done what he usually does best for the company - beats the drum even louder in times of crisis. At an industry conference last week, Gates said: 'We cannot give an exact date but when it comes out, it's an historic milestone. There are even suggestions that the release of a new version may be postponed until after the year 2000 with a cutdown release being made next year.

I suppose he has to beat that drum to steady the customer base - corporates still have choices of networking systems. If the breakup scenario looks even remotely likely, smart Vars (or even 'systems integrators') should stop complaining and start to widen their skills base. No one can say the industry is not attempting to provide more choice than can be done by the mighty Microsoft - just look at the Linux fans out there. Linux is proving to be a refreshing change since it does provide that choice which many have been claiming they do not have at present. And it is stable, scaleable and flexible.

There are more gaps appearing in the Microsoft armour than usual, which is surprising because some would argue that it is at the summit of its power and influence. But when Bill Gates can get up at yet another industry event and say that approximately 60,000 applications will be ready to support Windows NT 5 when it does ship, it takes my mind back to a similar conference I attended a few years ago. That one was an IBM developers' conference and the same promise was being made about OS/2 applications.

Is there a possibility that the delays to NT 5 could give some far-sighted Linux applications developers some bright ideas? Or are we still just a nation of moaners and not doers?