I.B.M. Software to Integrate Systems

Company News

By John Markoff
The New York Times

May 17, 1989

The International Business Machines Corporation yesterday introduced, as expected, an ambitious set of software that addresses the changing role of mainframe computers.

I.B.M., the world's largest maker of mainframes, hopes the new software, called Officevision, will ''bring mainframe power to workers' desktops.''

In the past, all processing has been done in large centralized machines, and computer users viewed the results on desktop terminals. In the future, the mainframe will become more of an information repository, and processing functions will be distributed throughout a network of powerful personal computers know as intelligent work stations.

Although the Officevision software is designed to integrate I.B.M.'s diverse hardware systems, it will also run in a personal computer network without the larger systems.

I.B.M. said the first Officevision applications will be available in September and others next year.

A dozen software companies joined in the announcement, introducing such programs as executive information systems, financial management and inventory and accounting control. The Lotus Development Corporation and the Microsoft Corporation demonstrated versions of their 1-2-3 and Excel spreadsheet programs, respectively, linked to the Officevision family of programs.

I.B.M. has not chosen a spreadsheet program to market as part of the Officevision family, but industry officials said that later this year it would begin marketing Lotus's 1-2-3/G program, which is designed for the Officevision system.

I.B.M. will also offer a Data Interpretation System developed by Metaphor Systems Inc. to allow users to analyze data by selecting on-screen symbols. I.B.M. last year invested in Metaphor.

Some software industry analysts said I.B.M.'s challenge remains to popularize the company's software offerings outside of I.B.M.'s closest and largest customers. Most desktop computer users have still not made the shift to the company's more powerful OS/2 operating system required to take advantage of the applications introduced yesterday.

Officevision consists of programs designed to run on the main I.B.M. hardware systems: the PS/2 personal computers, AS/400 midrange systems and MVS and VM mainframe computer operating systems.