Hi Paul
Before I start I've got to state...
A) All my opinions are my own, not those of Novell, Novell UK or anybody else. I've consistently forgotten to mention this. If you want to know about me click on my name above and you'll see that I don't really count in the big picture...
However
You're right that Caldera competes as a web server, but if you look at what real life companies use, web servers aren't the only back-end services in place. There are other services that need to be there before the web becomes crucial. I have yet to come across a company that relies on web serves for line of business apps. Please tell me if you know otherwise.
I know the UK MD for Caldera very well, and after speaking to him, it's obvious that their primary focus isn't replacing NW with their own product. For Caldera there is a huge market in supplying a very lightweight client (DOS/Linux) for companies that require it, with Servers (Linux/NetWare/Whatever) at the back end. Their product isn't designed to be a NetWare killer. For them, a product that can generate 15mil in revenue is worthwhile. For Novell, as a single company, this probably isn't worthwhile. The entire market is different,with marketing(?), POS, Ads, reseller training, Staff training and so on on a different plane. Again, I restate thaty I'd sooner see a Linus server being installed than NT. We integrate with Linux *very* well.
Who knows about Kayak? I've seen the product and I'm very impressed (as expected). If the marketing matches the development, we're onto a winner. If not, well, what can I say. . I pray this situation won't come about. Given the bandwidth we're onto a wiiner with Kayak. I don't think MSFT will have everything their own way next year.....
Peter |
