InfoWorld News: Novell GroupWise to Get a Jolt; Commitment to the Web is Crucial for the Networking Giant
PR Newswire - February 10, 1997 17:58
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SAN MATEO, Calif., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Facing stiff competition from rivals that are changing the rules of the game, Orem, Utah-based Novell Inc. is scrambling to gain ground in the messaging arena by delivering a major release of GroupWise this summer, according to today's issue of InfoWorld.
A page one story written by InfoWorld Reporter Amy Doan reports that
GroupWise 6.0, code-named Jolt, will deliver Web publishing features along with crucial Internet protocol support. Novell, like Lotus and Microsoft, is struggling to implement Internet protocols to counter Netscape's push for open Internet protocols.
Jolt will benefit from Novell's Jefferson project, which opens GroupWise's document library to Internet protocols. Jefferson has earned solid marks from alpha users, but its shipment has slipped 1-2 quarters to summer 1997. The delay comes at an unfortunate time for Novell, which is struggling to distinguish its product from Microsoft Exchange, Netscape SuiteSpot and Lotus Notes.
GroupWise 6.0 will provide users with a cross-platform, out-of-the-box set of groupware applications, such as calendar, scheduling and workflow. By contrast, Exchange is only available for the Windows platform, and Notes requires internal IS department development work to take full advantage of its capabilities. Both packages, however, do tout Web standards, but Novell is still trying to demonstrate its commitment to the World Wide Web.
"GroupWise is really strong in terms of core functions, but their lack of protocol support is really hurting them," said Mark Levitt, a research manager for International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. "They're still only talking about delivering Web publishing and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) support, which puts them way behind (Lotus) Domino."
Lacking the needed Internet standards, and with a strong Web document
management story still only on paper, Novell is having a hard time fending off the steady growth of Windows NT. The company took several steps last week to show it is embracing the Web, but more such demonstrations arc needed, according to Michael Vizard, executive editor, news for InfoWorld.
"To get back in the race, Novell needs full Internet support by the end of the year," said Vizard. "This is the key reason Novell has taken such a pounding. But because Microsoft, Lotus and Netscape have problems of their own with timely delivery of products, its conceivable that Novell could deliver GroupWise with full Internet support at about the same time these vendors ship their rival offerings."
Full text of the article is available on InfoWorld Electric at
infoworld.com.
Headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., InfoWorld, the voice of client/server in the enterprise, focuses on editorial coverage of products used in enterprise networks. Its news organization has earned a reputation for the timeliness and accuracy of its news coverage and is often cited by the general news media as a primary source for breaking computer technology stories.
SOURCE InfoWorld
CONTACT: Steve Stamates of InfoWorld, 415-312-0678,
steve_stamates@infoworld.com; or Travis Jacobsen of Politis Communications, 801-523-3730, tjacobsen@politis.com |
