"As it matures, the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition application server management market is becoming increasingly competitive, and the wide spectrum of J2EE stakeholders places varied demands on vendors." So states the opening lines of a recent Gartner Report on J2EE Application Server Management software.

The report returns Wily Technology and Veritas to the Leaders Quadrant, with Wily rated highest in ability to execute. Other members of this quadrant are IBM/Tivoli, Mercury, and Quest Software.

The report offers the opinion that Wily must "capitalize on its agility to offset the greater financial resources of some of its competitors," and Veritas "needs to continue its market focus while in the midst of a potentially complex merger."

IBM/Tivoli, which presumably does not lack financial resources, also "faces the challenge of integrating a wide-ranging collection of recently acquired technology," according to the report.

Gartner's advice to customers in this space "remains unchanged," the report says. IT organizations must "treat investments in this technology market as tactical and develop cross-stakeholder management processes to improve operational, quality assurance, and operational efficiency." (Of course, it's no accident that these latter three things are among the critical goals what companies embarking on J2EE initiatives hope to accomplish!)

One large company on the right side of the vertical bar in this quadrant but with a below-average ability to execute was HP. Companies viewed in this report as challengers, not leaders, include Computer Associates and BMC Software.