The Microsoft Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a comprehensive bundle of Microsoft technologies for designing, developing and hosting Web applications built on a Windows, IIS (Internet Information Services), SQL Server, ASP.NET (WISA) stack, and it is patterned after the successful Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) and Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP (WAMP) distributions popular in the open-source community.

This research provides Web architects, Web development managers and Web developers with insights about Microsoft's objectives for its Web PI initiative and the capabilities of the product, and suggests several areas where the Web PI may be immediately applicable to enterprises.

• The Microsoft Web PI bundles existing, successful technologies for ease of installation and update. It targets "undecided" Web developers, and is an attempt to build greater community around Microsoft Web technologies, while simultaneously staunching erosion in the .NET developer base.
• The ease with which a WISA stack can be installed with the Microsoft Web PI will lead to faster experimentation with Microsoft Silverlight technology among independent software vendor (ISV) developers.
• The Microsoft Web PI does not significantly impact enterprise IT cost and value drivers in the near term, because enterprises using Microsoft Web technologies already have mechanisms in place for managing their WISA investments. Enterprises that do not already use Microsoft Web technologies will not change their strategy based purely on the Web PI.

• Use the free Microsoft IIS Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Toolkit included in the Web PI to improve the value of your enterprise Web presence.
• Evaluate the efficacy of Web PI as a tool for reducing the operational cost of provisioning developer workstations.
• Experiment with Microsoft Silverlight rich Internet application (RIA) technologies within the enterprise, as you can do so at no cost, even if you are not already invested in .NET-based technologies.

Web PI brings the ease of configuration and installation already present in open-source LAMP and WAMP stacks to Microsoft Web technologies, and it improves on the ease of use of its open-source competition by including discovery and update tools for many popular open-source modules like PHP and WordPress.

A handful of standout capabilities, such as the IIS SEO Toolkit and the potential for streamlining the ASP.NET developer workstation provisioning process, are stashed away within the Web PI and are of interest to enterprises.

If Microsoft is successful in achieving wide adoption of the Web PI, it will ultimately result in a larger pool of .NET developer talent.

On 25 June 2009, Microsoft shipped the release candidate for Microsoft Web PI v.2.0 (www.microsoft.com/Web/downloads/platform.aspx). This is the second release of the Web PI; the first was in October 2008.

The Microsoft Web PI is a free package comprising a complete Microsoft WISA stack. It incorporates a Web server, various frameworks, a database and tools for building, deploying and managing Web applications. It is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, Windows Server 2003 and 2008, and the forthcoming Windows 7. Capabilities delivered in the Web PI initiative include the technologies available via the installer itself, as well as Microsoft's plans to introduce monetization mechanisms for companies selling software into the Microsoft Web PI Web Application Gallery.

The Web PI includes a complete set of technologies for building, testing and deploying Microsoft IIS-based Web applications. These are broken into three areas:

• Developer tools and frameworks
• Runtime servers and management tools
• Third-party, open-source applications

Within the scope of the Web PI, Microsoft has incorporated up-to-date versions of ASP.NET, ASP.NET Model-View-Controller MVC, ASP.NET Ajax, Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio and Visual Web Developer, Visual Web Developer 2008 and Expression Web. FastCGI, a language-independent API wrapper for accessing low-level IIS Web server functionality, is also included. FastCGI enables integration with non-Microsoft frameworks, and Microsoft has used it to deliver the latest version of PHP in the Web PI. The included IIS Web server is full-featured and includes innovations such as Smooth Streaming for Silverlight clients, a part of IIS Media Services.

In addition to including the latest version of Microsoft IIS v.7.0, the Microsoft Web server, a free version of Microsoft SQL Server 2008, SQL Server Express, is included in the Web PI. Although SQL Express is limited compared to the full version of SQL Server, it is comparable to the popular open-source MySQL database, which has been used frequently in the open-source community. Although MySQL is supported by a variety of Microsoft hosting partners, it is notably absent from Web PI.

Web PI combines technologies already available as discrete products. Previously, these products were marketed across several different Microsoft websites, and each required a separate manual configuration effort. Combining them into a single package simplifies the tasks of discovery, configuration and installation. Rounding up the various free Microsoft Web technology products and combining them into one bundle allows developers interested in Microsoft technology to benefit from a similar installation process to the one open-source LAMP and WAMP developers have been using.

Microsoft goes beyond the open-source Web technology stacks by including a discovery and installation tool for configuring a range of popular open-source applications. In keeping with its recent pattern of support for open-source projects, Microsoft has included a range of open-source offerings as installable applications via the Web PI's Web Application Gallery feature. Using a one-click installation process, popular open-source applications like WordPress, Drupal and DotNetNuke can be deployed alongside proprietary Microsoft technologies, and they are automatically configured for optimal performance with IIS and SQL Express.

The cost of Microsoft technology, along with the weight of a manual installation (and tweaking) process, was often too much for independent developers to put up with, and Microsoft has watched a generation of developers gravitate toward open-source technologies. Subsequently, the company bore witness to the growth of a robust open-source community, which occurred mostly without Microsoft's investment or direction. The company isn't changing its business model to become open-source, but recognizes that more must be done to encourage independent developers to choose Microsoft over alternatives, especially to compete with the momentum of the open-source community. Although Microsoft has a strong developer community in Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), the company would benefit from a robust Microsoft-centric open-source developer community.

In addition to recent open-source efforts, and the company's BizSpark and DreamSpark initiatives, Microsoft hopes to capture the current generation of up-and-coming developers with its Web PI campaign. For developers getting started with Web technology, the ease of discovery and installation made possible through the Web PI is a compelling reason to consider experimenting with Microsoft Web technologies. Many developers will do so, and some will become Microsoft adopters, growing the size of ASP.NET and Silverlight developer populations.

None of Microsoft's commercial competitors offers anything similar to Web PI, but then again, its chief competition in Web technology is from open-source projects. For example, the open-source Apache Web server has a market share advantage versus Microsoft IIS (according to Netcraft's March through June 2009 Web Server Surveys). Earlier exposure to a free version of Microsoft WISA may encourage developers to choose it in commercial applications. Rather than a short-term tactic, Web PI will help Microsoft win the hearts and minds of developers over the long run; if effective, it will lead to improved revenue for the company due to a larger Microsoft-friendly developer ecosystem.

According to Microsoft, the popularity of the Web PI has led to the installation of more than 2 million Microsoft Web products since January 2009. On average, four Microsoft Web products are installed per invocation of the Web PI installation program. The strategy of combining multiple offerings in one package seems to be working, but it will be several years before we feel its full impact.

Microsoft Web PI is valuable for independent developers and ISVs, but enterprises already invested in WISA will not realize significant benefits. Key IT cost drivers in the enterprise usually include salaries, licensing, hardware and the costs associated with other externally sourced services. Enterprises using Microsoft Web technology normally purchase support and licenses for developer tools and Web or database servers. Configuration of a new developer workstation is always a time-consuming hassle, as is validating that the latest updates of each Microsoft Web product installed. Some Microsoft customers are exploring the use of the Web PI as a tool to streamline the provisioning process for new ASP.NET developers. It may be possible for enterprises to realize limited cost savings in this area, especially if they do not already have a flexible and efficient provisioning process based on stock "images" for developer workstations.

Interactivity and usability in Web applications is a core value driver for customers using the Web, and Silverlight is squarely aimed at enabling delivery of enhanced user experiences. As Silverlight developer tools are distributed with the Web PI, it could lead to broader capabilities among developers in delivering RIA using Silverlight in the future, which will be a positive value driver for enterprises choosing Silverlight-based RIAs. The presence of Microsoft's RIA technology in the Web PI is not good news for Adobe, which would prefer to see developers experiment with the open-source Flash and accompanying Flex framework. Enterprises interested in developing RIA competencies would be well-served to experiment with Silverlight, as it is a strong competitor to Flex, and it is available as a free part of the Web PI. If the Microsoft Web PI campaign is successful, there will be more IT resources skilled in Microsoft Web technology in the long run. This will have a positive effect on IT cost drivers, as entry-level .NET, SQL Server and IIS professionals will be better-equipped to deliver productivity in the enterprise.

For enterprises already using Microsoft's Web server, the IIS SEO Toolkit, available only as part of the Web PI, may prove to be the most interesting feature in the offering. SEO is an Internet marketing strategy aimed at improving the quality and volume of traffic to a website from search engines, and competency in the SEO discipline is usually sourced externally at a high cost. Companies specializing in SEO charge a premium for their ability to tweak websites so that they match the best practices for good design, as defined by search engine vendors such as Google and Yahoo. By delivering a set of SEO capabilities within the Web PI, Microsoft is offering enterprises a chance to get better at SEO themselves, without hiring an expensive specialist. Microsoft promises to update the IIS SEO tool within subsequent releases of the Web PI, so as search engines refine their ranking algorithms over time, the IIS SEO will help enterprises stay current.

Microsoft has established itself as the strongest player for development tools and technologies targeting the small or midsize business (SMB) market, and Web PI will help cement this position. In addition, Microsoft will establish better rapport with ISVs and independent developers, who will start to take a closer look at its offerings. It will take time, but the Web PI initiative will improve the company's reputation and uptake with open-source developers. In the near term, there are no "big winners" or "big losers," but there is impact at the margin for each of the following:

• Developers — Microsoft is focusing on simplicity, interoperability and integration in its campaign for the attention of independent ISVs and developers, providing more options for these groups at no cost to them.
• Microsoft — Microsoft is proving that it is developer-friendly, and if it can continue to execute, some of the anti-Microsoft bias within the open-source community will be blunted. Furthermore, as up-and-coming developers learn to build applications with IIS, SQL Server and .NET, they will be ready to migrate to full-price versions of those products as they become professional developers.
• Open-source products included in the Web PI Web Application Gallery — applications that are included in the Web PI, such as WordPress and PHP, gain additional legitimacy and exposure.
• Enterprises — the IIS SEO Toolkit provides opportunities to improve the value of the enterprise Web presence, and the Web PI may provide a means to lower the cost of provisioning and updating developer workstations.
• Adobe — Silverlight v.3 brings Microsoft RIA to feature parity with Flash and Flex in most areas. In concert with the Web PI, Microsoft is going after developers that might have first tried Adobe's offerings.
• Companies built upon the dominance of the LAMP stack, Ruby on Rails stack or other open-source Web technology stacks — developers can now choose a Microsoft alternative with relative ease, and even PHP developers can more easily use Microsoft technology without giving up their language of choice.