BEA Systems is feeling the pressure from open source, according to investors at Wall St institution Piper Jaffray.

The analyst firm has pegged BEA's stock price at $8 per share, saying it expects potential customers to delay new application server purchases until an updated version of open source rival Gluecode is released later this year. BEA currently trades at close to $8.50 per share.

"We feel these delayed investment decisions could cause many of the active WebLogic sales opportunities to stall, increasing the length of the cycle," Piper Jaffray said in a research note (http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/09/19/bea-systems-open-source-0919markets08.html?partner=yahootix).

Gluecode was bought by BEA's great application server rival, IBM, this summer, in a deal that provides IBM a low-cost, lightweight alternative its enterprise-class WebSphere product that is usually used against BEA's WebLogic. Piper Jaffray said the Gluecode deal strengthened IBM against BEA.

The analyst firm's note comes as BEA prepares to host its annual eWorld user and developer conference next week in Santa Clara, California. BEA, which has consistently denied experiencing competition from open source in public, is expected to use eWorld to rally customers to its latest AquaLogic services oriented architecture (SOA) strategy and product line. ®

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