We can't gauge the immediate impact of this deal for Novell's revenues for some time. Right now, I can say this -- It's a great day for Novell.
Why?
First, they have managed to make a partner of the biggest online service/content player in the world. Novell touts itself as being the technology leader, someone who can build the best "plumbing" for your solutions. If they can showcase NDS and NDS-related products on the biggest stage yet known, what kind of message does that send to everyone else?
Second, Instant Messaging for those of you who don't have it or don't use it is the next step in personal communications. Right now, you need a computer with client software and access via traditional services. What happens when the client runs on say a PDA or cell phone or an IP phone on my desk and access is ubiquitous?
This is very powerful stuff. Forget what we have here and now in terms of instant messaging and take a look into the future. Go to Qualcomm's website and look into the pdQ phone as an example.
Next level we have to look at is the business-to-business sector. Creating and managing relationships for business users to be able to communicate in real time with suppliers, service providers and more can be very alluring to many companies.
For example, the ability to order, check status and keep informed of deliveries is just a simple example of what can be done. Think of FedEx and UPS in this space....
I could go on and I'm sure Fredrick can tell you more about the financial industry. I know that Instant Messaging from a business standpoint has yet to be developed and sold to this market as a productivity tool.
I don't kid myself, MSFT realizes the need for leadership in this space for many reasons. They could throw all the money in the world into this but without a system in place that can rival what AOL is doing it's an uphill battle. Even if they were to create or "integrate" Instant Messaging into their Windows products (or Outlook), they still need a back-end system for everythign to work on.
Let's not forget the convergence of voice and data systems. One day in the not too distant future, phone services will run on the same networks as data services. Once our phone systems go to an internet standards-type technology, then instant messaging becomes more than just something you do with your buddies on AOL.
If I have an IP phone on my desk that can be take the place of my PC and the client software necessary to communicate, then the obstacle to use instant messaging disappears.
Peter J Strifas |
