Vinod: If you and others on this thread ask - eg. the "free copies" - I strongly think you will receive. Novell is opening up and breaking down old barriers. Here in Chicago I can say they are much more aggressive than ever before - a new kick in the pants, perhaps, but I think the greater story is that they really have the competitive edge with NDS, BoarderManager, Managewise, their plans with Java, Netware 5.0, etc.
They've had great press today from Internet World in NY - FastCache increases ISP server performance 700%; partnershipping with Oracle on a new Internet and data sharing applications, etc.
I met today with the head of IS at a leading NT-friendly exchange. They have Netware in the background - aiming to migrate off in 12 months. After I walked through, NDS for NT, BoarderManager and all the Java-related stuff Novell is coming out with in ver. 5.0, I can say these guys were very intrigued. Point for point they acknowledged many of the shortcomings of NT: headaches in administration, security, scalability, etc. - but the value of having one common application platform is still extremely compelling. Now that they are into sorting out all the extra costs and layers of supporting this "thick-client" strategy the opportunity is there to get them to integrate NDS - NOW - BoarderManager as they learn more about Novell's pure-Java-on-the server platform in 5.0.
Migrations to NT 4.0 have been going on for only the past 1 1/2 years and in every case I can follow - Netware is still humming along in the background even as the complexity and cost of administrating these networks has mushroomed . Novell is hitting all these accounts - major exchanges and brokerage firms with some very compelling reasons to stay the course.
As for Java - it's definitely a high priority everywhere. Even these executives had to admit they are not at all sure which way things will fall - toward Sun or MS. You know where I stand on this and Novell is just beginning to hit the Java radar screen for many companies.
Look forward to following your progress with your own experience.
Hey, I still need an acknowledgement back on Ford and MCI.
Good Luck! |
