New York -- Microsoft is putting even more distance between itself ...
Keith Burbank
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11/17/97
Computer Reseller News
Page 550
Copyright 1997 CMP Publications Inc.
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New York -- Microsoft is putting even more distance between itself and Novell Inc. in the small and midsize network-operating-system market, according to the October CRN/Ruzinsky Research reseller software poll.
The Redmond, Wash.-based company is maintaining a slim lead in the groupware market, as well, and is strengthening its position among client/server database vendors.
A record 65 percent of resellers cited Microsoft as their best-selling network-operating-system vendor last month, marking the fifth straight month the company has captured at least 60 percent of reseller votes. The October figure is up from 62 percent in September and 60 percent in August. A year earlier, 45 percent of resellers chose Microsoft.
Novell Inc., Orem, Utah, on the other hand, was cited by 25 percent of resellers as their best selling network-operating-system vendor in October, the fifth consecutive month the company has failed to achieve at least a 30 percent share.
Novell's share is down from 27 percent in September and 28 percent in August. And in October 1996, 36 percent of resellers cited Novell as their best-selling network-operating-system vendor.
Wally Potter, owner of Bottomline, a reseller in Ontonagon, Mich., said one reason for Microsoft's success is all the hype surrounding its products. Whether true or not, many resellers think it simply is easier to deploy Microsoft's network operating system, compared with those from other vendors.
Additional CRN survey data illustrates other reasons for Microsoft's growing dominance in the network-operating-system arena.
For example, Windows NT is the resellers' platform-of-choice when it comes to deploying client/server-database applications. Some 80 percent of resellers are deploying these applications on Windows NT, compared with 30 percent deploying on Novell NetWare. Because resellers deploy on multiple platforms, the numbers do not add up to 100 percent.
Quinn Ford, owner of Ford Office Systems, a reseller in North Vernon, Ind., said he is switching his clients to Windows NT because setting up peripherals is easier than on NetWare.
Turning to the small- and midsize-company market for client/server databases, survey results show a record number, 48 percent, of resellers picked Microsoft as their best-selling vendor, while Oracle Corp. was chosen by 21 percent of resellers. This represents the largest lead for Microsoft since CRN began its software survey in June 1996.
Microsoft's client/server-database share has increased steadily over the past six months, while Oracle's share has remained nearly unchanged.
Over the past year, however, both companies have seen increases. In October 1996, 18 percent of resellers chose Oracle as their best selling client/server-database vendor, compared with 21 percent last month. For Microsoft, the year-earlier figure was 37 percent, compared with 48 percent in October 1997.
Looking at the market for groupware, the October survey data shows Microsoft leading archrivals Novell and Lotus Development Corp., Cambridge, Mass., for the fifth straight month. Prior to this period, none of these three vendors had led the others for more than two consecutive months.
Microsoft was chosen by 36 percent of smaller resellers as their best-selling groupware vendor in October, compared with 26 percent for Lotus and 20 percent for Novell.
Over the past four months, Microsoft has stretched its lead over Lotus and Novell. In July, for example, the company led both Lotus and Novell by only two percentage points. Last month, in contrast, Microsoft has a 10 percentage point lead over Lotus and a 16 percentage point edge over Novell.
Turning to other survey data, resellers said they continue to expect strong software sales growth at least into early 1998.
The percentage of resellers expecting sales growth of at least 6 percent over the next three months has increased, compared with the previous month's survey data, in four of the seven product categories CRN surveys, including Web browsers, Web server software, network operating systems and customized software. |
