Both Microsoft and IBM are chasing the same goal of empowering their customers to have more agile, dynamic businesses.

At the company's TechEd conference, Microsoft officials talked about giving customers agility in creating applications and providing services for their constituents and their own businesses. They demonstrated how Microsoft's application platform can be used to enable customers to collaborate better and to respond more quickly to changes, as in SOAs. Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Microsoft's Server and Tools Business, called this "dynamic IT."

Separately, at its Rational Software Development Conference June 10-14, IBM will announce a slew of <A HREF="http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2144598,00.asp?kc=EWKNLEDP061107A">new and enhanced developer tools</A> to help customers not only develop applications faster and better but also help customers better manage and support projects throughout the development life cycle.