A message from NOVL I received this morning via the internet.
Just to let NOVL know, we have not written off Novell. NW 3.x is here to stay in this company along with NW 4.x, NT, Exchange and HP Openview for network management.
Regarding NetWare and e-mail:
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Speaking on behalf of IS, we are not replacing all the servers with NT although the forces behind NT are very strong in some divisions of the corporation and especially in the larger ones (2,000 employees +) where we have little influence. MSFT hyped NT and some of the IS Managers responsible for those sites have been caught up in the sales pitch without giving NOVL a chance. I have told NOVL reps. that they must visit these IS managers in person if they are to have a chance in succeeding capturing any market share in this company....no matter whether they have to visit the coldest and darkest spots of this province.
Within the corporation, MS Mail v3.x which once resided on NetWare 3.x is being replaced by Exchange on the NT platform. I am sure those who represent this company from NOVL are aware of the politics that have prevented us from moving to NW 4.x over the last couple of years. We have had many discussions/meetings on this but to no avail.
We in IS are beginning to install NW 4.1. Today we have approx. 5 NW 4.x servers with another three coming on-line within the month.
It is a start.
Regarding network management:
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We have invested over $5 million in HP Openview and the software package from Boole & Babbage. Given the large investment made, it is unlikly that we would move to Managewise. Small sites that manage their own networks may opt for Managewise if they have not moved to NT.
My opinion:
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NOVL has some of the greatest technology around no doubt and it is a shame that the market does not recognize it as having much value.
As I have said all along, I am keeping my investment in NOVL until the day that "pigs can fly". I increased my investment yesterday when the stock fell to $10 1/8 and will pick up more if it approaches $9. At some point, NOVL will be seen as undervalued.
Good luck to everyone.
V.K
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Without quoting specific customers, or actual dollar amounts,
some interesting feedback you should be aware of is as follows:
-major account business via licensing programs is growing at
approx 40-50% per quarter
-we are assembling an extensive list of customers that have
re-thought their strategy to deploy MS NT as an enterprise NOS
platform, due to the numerous admin issues, and high costs of
deployment
-many, if not all of the customers with numerous MS NT &
NetWare servers to manager would love to have Novell Directory
Services today on MS NT....We will deliver that functionality and
more!!!! long before Cairo is ready for first release
-we have numerous customers with 25000+ nodes of NW4.x,
ManageWise & GroupWise
-customers that had originally purchased MS SMS as a network
management product have quickly found out that it is not close to
the functionality of ManageWise 2.x, and were pleased to see
Novell introduce an SNMP Agent for MS NT, even before MS
could deliver one.
-GroupWise is winning significant large-scale orders in the US
Govt at the expense of MS Mail
-Early adopters of MS Exchange have expressed serious concerns
about the performance, cost of deployment, cost of
administration, lack of an enterprise directory etc..., this is why
GroupWise is proving to be a better solution for large customers...
Within the next 60 days we will sign significant contracts with
some very high profile customers in Canada. All of these
customers have been down the MS path and have a good
understanding of the relative pro's & con's of MS NT as a
workstation, app server and enterprise NOS. Novell will deliver
the best solution to integrate, administer and manage an
enterprise network that continues to build on a historic
heterogeneous model. Novell Canada will have strong
representation in the following vertical markets.....Telco,
Insurance, Utilities, Finance, Govt-Municipal, Provincial, Federal
etc....
A very major customer that had an opportunity to view 'first
hand'....the ability to manage a MS NT server via NDS stated that
this was the missing link in their enterprise solution and that
Novell was right on the mark with respect to embracing the MS
NT app server via NDS & ManageWise.
It is a very exciting time at Novell Canada, as we approach our
year end which is Oct 31st. We have just received our Q3 results,
and it should be noted that large account licensing business for
'96 has already exceeded '95, and we still have a full quarter ahead
of us!!!!
I, like you, would like nothing better that to see the stock value
increase. With 6 years invested in Novell, I am confident Novell is
on the right track.
As one of our major customers, we need you to support our
cause, and not to be so quick to write Novell off as a bad debt!!!
If you have put all of our products thru the paces, with the
appropriate technical guidance, and still believe MS can do a
better job at meeting your needs....then they deserve the
business. The truth is that many customers have never reviewed
NW4.x, ManageWise or GroupWise and do not know how these
products differ from MS NT, SMS or Exchange. When customers
(large corporate accounts) take the time to do a thorough
evaluation of the Novell technology, we are successful 90% +++
of the time.
If MS Exchange was such a good enterprise mail platform, why do
some of the largest IT Trade shows use GroupWise??? While Bill
Gates was showing a similation of 10,000 users, Novell was
processing 1.5M messages for 100,000 trade show attendees in a
production installation on the show floor.
Novell delivers....and with the exciting marketing campaign
starting to hit, you will be very happy to have those Novell stocks
in your portfolio in the very near future.
Enjoy your frank feedback on the techstocks page...
Just wanted you you know that someone at Novell Canada cares,
and is trying to make a difference for the company!!!!
PS: Networld/Interop just moved their website to IntranetWare
from Unix!!!!!
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Thanks D.
V.K |
