BEA Systems has announced that WebLogic Server was named the number one application server in the soon-to-be published independent Evans Data Corporation survey titled “Professionals Choice: Application Servers 2006 User Ranking.” This announcement reinforces WebLogic Server’s position as the rock solid foundation on which developers can build next-generation Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs).

“WebLogic consistently scored above average in a number of different application server features,” said John Andrews, president of Evans Data Corporation. “Most notable is the software’s ability to scale in line with the needs of customers while consistently offering excellent performance. The software’s superior diagnostics and application management, coupled with strong security features, help ensure consistency and lack of downtime.”

Evans Data Corporation conducted its primary market research on application servers in the summer of 2006, asking more than 700 developers worldwide to rate the top ones. Developers only rated the features of those application servers that they had used.
“While some think all application servers are created equal, BEA says think again,” said Wai Wong, executive vice president, products, BEA Systems Inc. “We have always believed that WebLogic is, hands down, the best application server in its class, and this continues to be validated via industry awards, market share data, survey results and performance benchmarks. WebLogic Server continues to wow developers and IT shops the world over.”

WebLogic Server is part of the BEA SOA 360º platform. Announced at BEAWorld 2006, the BEA SOA 360º platform is designed to deliver the industry’s most unified SOA platform and spans all three of BEA’s product families, AquaLogic, WebLogic, Tuxedo and the company’s newly unveiled SOA collaborative tooling environment, BEA Workspace 360º.

Evans Survey Methodology

For the survey, developers were asked to rank 22 different features or characteristics applicable to application servers. Each item could be ranked as “excellent,” “very good,” “adequate,” “needs improvement” or “NA.” During processing, the first four rankings were assigned a numerical value according to their relative significance. The last value, “NA,” was discarded. Values were then combined to produce a score for each element for every application server and also for an overall total score. Out of the 10 application servers that were evaluated in the report, WebLogic server ranked number one, ahead of IBM WebSphere, RedHat/JBoss and Oracle Application Server. For more information about the report and/or to purchase a copy, please visit evansdata.com.

Further Industry Recognition of WebLogic Server

The Evans Data Group results are consistent with other current industry data. According to Gartner’s Market Share AIM worldwide 2005 report (published on June 2006), BEA’s WebLogic Server ranked number one with a 33.8 percent market share rating, compared to Oracle at just 2.5 percent. WebLogic Server sales have been growing faster than market growth expectations.

In addition to giving WebLogic Server a premier market share rating, Gartner also placed the software at the top of their most recent “Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Application Servers (EAS) 2Q 06.”

What’s more, WebLogic Server continues its stronghold as the industry’s fastest application server. Earlier this month, BEA announced a benchmark performance record of WebLogic Server running on Intel-based Integrity servers. For more information on its latest benchmark win, visit http://www.spec.org/jAppServer2004/results/. Oracle and RedHat/JBoss have not published benchmark scores at this time.