Marketing 101

These are the lead paragraphs for two of BEA’s products. Can you tell which one is a java application server and which one is middleware for mainframe transaction-processing? (A java application server is a program you run on a big computer so it can run lots of smaller java programs that do things like tell you that FedEx just shipped your package to the wrong address. Middleware for mainframe transaction processing means a program that runs on a big water-cooled mainframe computer that hasn’t been turned off since before most current CS graduates were born, and allows the mainframe computer to understand what the whippersnappers’ web site programs are doing, so that when you try to buy an airplane ticket it can tell you that no aisle or window seats are left, and that by the time you’ve decided that you don’t mind a middle seat for your twelve-hour flight out of Singapore, even those are sold out, and you’re too late to escape the SARS.)

"The BEA XXXXX™ is a proven, extremely reliable, and super scalable multi-language enterprise platform-one that can connect and empower users, while integrating corporate applications and legacy data stores into powerful, flexible, end-to-end enterprise software solutions."

"BEA YYYYY™ increases productivity and lowers the cost structure for enterprise IT organizations by providing a unified, simplified, and extensible architecture. BEA YYYYYY™ includes application infrastructure technology from proven BEA products that are used by thousands of customers worldwide, including BEA ZZZZZZ™, BEA WWWWWWWWW™, and BEA VVVVVVV™. These technologies are combined with BEA UUUUUUUU™ to offer a single, unified, easy-to-use infrastructure platform for application development, deployment, and management."