Looks like MSFT is a bit worried that the NOVL pheonix is starting to rise again. They are kicking in the white lies (FUD) and attacking NOVL's sales channels. Turns out we on this board were right regarding MSFT's announcement of Dell's migration to NT.
Turning up the heat on Novell
By Mary Jo Foley and Joseph C. Panettieri, Sm@rt Reseller
October 29, 1998 9:46 AM ET
Microsoft Corp. is stepping up its campaign
to win over Novell Inc. customers and
resellers, using weapons ranging from
targeted recruitment events to press releases
to do so.
In a continuation of the effort it launched a year ago to recruit Novell
channel partners, Microsoft is inviting a number of Novell Platinum
resellers to nearby Bellevue, Wash., in early November for a networking
summit, Microsoft officials confirmed. Simultaneously, Microsoft is flying
its executives to major U.S. cities and is holding recruitment seminars for
Novell resellers who haven't been invited to the all-expenses-paid
Bellevue seminar.
In addition, Microsoft is cranking out press releases designed to show
that NetWare's momentum is dwindling, with claims of mass defections
from NetWare to NT as proof. But some of these wins, such as Dell
Computer Corp.'s abandonment of NetWare, cited in a late October
Microsoft release, aren't all that they seem.
Some industry watchers say the stepped-up marketing campaigns by
Microsoft are a direct result of the renewed interest in NetWare,
especially version 5.0. But others say it's just more of the same old
Microsoft tactics.
"Microsoft is going strongly after Novell dealers," said Jeff Cohn,
president of Sage Computer Associates, an Albany, N.Y, Novell
Platinum VAR. "[Microsoft] wanted us to fly down, train down, drive
down to hear them in New York City for a few hours."
Instead, Microsoft ended up sending an official to Sage's offices this
week to give Cohn Microsoft's Solution Provider pitch, he said. "We're
absolutely interested in what Microsoft has to say. We need to be
around. But Novell has a strong installed base, and we're still making
good money off them."
Another reseller whose company is both a Microsoft Certified Solution
Provider and a Novell Platinum VAR said Microsoft's recruitment
campaign is simply a continuation of its effort to target Novell's dealers
launched a year ago. The first group of Novell resellers that Microsoft
recruited was called the "Special Forces," said the reseller, who
requested anonymity.
"We had to commit to training a certain number of our [Certified Novell
Engineers] to be Microsoft Certified Software Engineers," the reseller
recalled.
Some Platinum resellers are willing to make the switch to Microsoft's
program, but only if Microsoft agrees to designate them as MCSP
"Partners," rather than "Members," the reseller continued. But
"Microsoft doesn't see Partners and Platinums as equivalents. And
[Microsoft] isn't really interested in growing its Partner program right
now."
Reseller programs aren't the only battleground. Microsoft issued a
release a month ago claiming the Kentucky Dept. of Education had
dumped NetWare for NT , a claim the KDE is disputing.
The latest white lie: Microsoft last week issued a press release claiming
that Dell was replacing 225 of its internal NetWare servers with 25
servers running NT Server. However, a Dell official said the direct PC
giant is migrating only a small number of servers from NetWare to NT
and that Dell remains strongly committed to using NetWare. In fact, Dell
continues to hold a 25,000-user NetWare license.
"Dell was replacing both legacy hardware and software in a single
department with NT," acknowledged a Novell spokesman. "But their
manufacturing groups still run on NetWare, and they have more than
13,000 nodes running on NetWare 5.0."
Back in mid-1997, Microsoft issued a press release claiming that market
researcher International Data Corp. (IDC) reported that NT Server was
outselling NetWare. IDC and Novell both claimed otherwise, and
Microsoft was forced to issue a follow-up release that made less
ambitious claims about NT Servers popularity.
Microsoft doesn't need to stretch the facts. Annual NT Server licenses
(1.3 million units) now outpace NetWare licenses (900,000 units),
according to IDC. And while most large companies use NetWare
side-by-side with NT Server, a handful of organizations -- including
Pennzoil Co. -- have migrated virtually all of their systems to NT Server.
zdnet.com
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