IBM is planning a new wave of Express software, hardware and services products this year including new customizable Express software offerings aimed at ISVs.

Mike Borman, vice president of worldwide sales for the IBM Software Group, Tuesday said that IBM is planning to unveil in the next several weeks Express Run Time for ISVs and IBM Solution Builder Express for infrastructure ISVs.

The new customizable Express software offerings, which open the door for additional integration opportunities for partners, are two of 13 new Express Software offerings planned by the Software Group this year, said Borman.

"The Express offering is our major go to market initiative from a product as well as a packaging standpoint to go after the SMB market for software," Borman said.

The new Express products are part of a massive IBM blitz to increase sales and market share among price conscious midmarket accounts that are predominately served by IBM Business Partners. IBM currently has 70 Express hardware, software and services offerings.

IBM's Systems and Technology Group also is set to unveil a new wave of Express offerings, while IBM Global Services Group is set to unveil several Express managed services offerings.

Bill Zeitler, general manager and group executive of IBM Systems Group, said he expects IBM to double the number of Express server offerings this year including new Intel based iSeries and Unix based pSeries systems.

"Express is important because it is a door opener," said Zeitler. "Any time you have these packages or bundles you sell more of the products related to it than the bundle themselves. As a door opener it is enormously successful."

In the second quarter, IBM Global Services will announce two managed service Express offerings: a desktop support service and a managed security service to help midmarket customers manage secure email, said IBM General Manager Global Services SMB Jim Corgel.

"We want to get at the number one problem people told us to attack and that is helping them manage secure email," said Corgel.

Bryan Cafaro, CEO of Tri-Bry, an IBM solution provider, said the Express products have allowed him to be successful in midmarket accounts that would not have considered higher priced IBM products.

Cafaro said he is excited by the new Express software offerings. He said Express related services accounted for 50 percent of his services business in 2004. Furthermore, he said, he recently won a server deal against Dell that he didn't expect to win by selling an IBM Express server.

"Express has opened up a lot of opportunities for us with SMB customers," said Cafaro. "It's made a big difference."

Bob Venero, CEO of Future Tech, a Holbrook, New York, IBM partner, said the Express server products level the playing field against Dell. The Express products should reduce special bid competition among partners on smaller deals, he said.

Venero, however, noted that enterprise customers signing big deals are going to insist on better pricing.