Novell Plans NC Support
By SHARON FISHER
Novell is working on a strategy to support network computers, according to a company executive.
"We don't have to do anything differently," said Peter Clegg, director of marketing for IntranetWare. "We still provide the infrastructure, but instead of having workstations, this is another point of access." All it would take is "some kind of connection shim," he said.
Network computers are this year's version of the X terminal, the diskless workstation, and the computer terminal. They include a thin client that lets users run applications off a network server, and support Internet and Web standards, but users do not have their own copies of applications. Proponents say they can save from 50 percent to 80 percent of the cost of running and maintaining a PC; dissuaders say that the cost savings aren't enough to mollify users who would no longer have control over their own applications.
Both Microsoft and Sun Microsystems have announced competing NC strategies within the past few weeks. Sun's is based on Java, while Microsoft's is based on Windows. Clegg was not sure whether the company would support both competing proposals, or choose one to support.
Analysts chalked up Novell's interest to competitive pressures with Microsoft, as well as a desire not to be caught missing the next big trend in networking.
"The only reason they need to do this is they think they're killing Microsoft again," said Bruce Robertson, program director of the global networking-strategies service for The Meta Group Inc., a Stamford, Conn., consultancy. "I think it boils down to them making sure they do as many Internet things as they can. It's another chance to supposedly combat the evil empire called Microsoft."
"They did sort of miss the wave on the Internet, at least the first wave," said Nina Lytton, president of Open Network Advisors, a Boston consultancy. It wasn't because the company wasn't thinking about it, but because it didn't clearly present its message to its customers, she said--a perception that the company may be trying to avoid with NCs.
Novell is also working on looking more open and less proprietary, Robertson said, citing the recent announcement with Sun to license WebNFS. "It's another 'we won't do this the Microsoft way' decision," he said.
Noting that NC proponents tend to fall into one of two areas--major vendors and vendors targeting the home market--"I don't know where Novell falls," said Lytton. Its various strategies of "ubiquitous computing" and so on was very similar to the way people are talking about the Internet now, she said.
Novell's biggest challenge in the NC arena may be its own ego, Lytton said. "Novell has to redefine a place where they are no longer at the center of the universe and that's the problem," she said. "In their minds they're the prom queens of networking. I wouldn't be surprised if it was the marketing side that was the holdup."
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Seems like a silly thing to say that Novell's interest in the NC lies only in the fact that Microsoft has gotten involved. It might be true; however, I tend to think Novell sees it as another source of sales and profits.
-Eddie |
