Novell Comes Out Swinging With Release of NetWare 5 -- With NDS, Novell has a clear shot at enterprise
Stuart Glascock, with Kimberly Caisse, Lee Copeland, Elliot Markowitz and Joe Wilcox
Provo, Utah-While Microsoft Corp. dallies with windows NT 5 betas, Novell Inc. strikes a strategic double jab this week, reviving its franchise with NetWare 5 and expanding the platform through directory integration.
Those two blows will land at today's launch for NetWare 5, at which Novell will not only push its directory-enabled IP platform, but also light a fire under a long-range directory integration plan. That crucial blueprint will promote Novell Directory Services (NDS) as the directory of choice among networking vendors, VARs and lucrative enterprise customers.
"It's a brilliant directory system," says Jeff Maxwell, senior infrastructure analyst at EDS Corp., Plano, Texas. Part of Novell's "Live-at-Five" early adopter program for Fortune 500 companies, Maxwell has been testing NetWare 5 in a production environment. "The extension of that directory system to provide a modular approach to a very large potential network size is dramatic. That's where it all ties together."
Indeed, Novell is cranking up its courtship of high-profile vendors such as Cisco Systems Inc., sources say. Attracting San Jose-based Cisco would accelerate Novell's directory services plan. However, some resellers say Novell has a window of opportunity given the NT 5 delay, but has not done enough to generate channel enthusiasm. "We haven't seen them aggressively targeting it. We haven't seen them work with resellers to address this opportunity," says Susan Bailey, president of En Pointe Technologies Inc., El Segundo, Calif.
Provided NetWare can get channel and vendor support, NDS has a real shot in the enterprise, especially when viewed in the context of other Novell products that leverage the directory integration, such as ManageWise, observers note.
Copyright r 1998 CMP Media Inc.
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