From my standpoint, the mix could be very interesting if SUN and Novell were to merge (or a takeover was to happen). Taking a close look at the 2 companies I see this:
PRODUCTS
SUN
Sun would bring a vast array of hardware products which are currently targeted at Fortune 500 companies, ISPs and telcos, a market NOVL hopes to hit with NDSv8. Along with the big hardware, SUN also has high-end workstations and let's not forget their JavaStations (anyone remember picoJava chips?).
The JavaStations would be interesting for Novell to get into with ZENWorks and NDS, these "NetPC's" would become more fuctional than previously determined when you can manage them and distribute sofware easily.
Also, SUN has a great advantage in 64-bit computing having recently moved Solaris software into that bracket. A good technology trade-off there with merging the 2 efforts.
The real kicker to all this would be the Netscape software. Novell already has in-depth, hands-on experience with the Netscape code from their venture with Netscape (called Novonyx). With Novell on board, SUN's portion of the AOL/Netscape deal could bring fruits to bear rather quickly.
Also as a side note: If SUN and Novell were to do something together (merge/takeover), I wonder what that would bring in terms of AOL. Could NDS and Digital Me make it into AOL's systems? Think of that possibility! Perhaps that's what SUN is thinking as well and wants to add that to their portfolio of products?
NOVELL
Well, we all know what Novell has to offer in terms of product. NDS and NetWare are in the forefront of that but lets also look at other things.
NDS brings a scalable, real-world directory to the table and we all know that the directory is the future. It's the backbone of the next generation of intelligent networks.
NetWare could find itself moving to 64-bit and then melting into SUN's Solaris OS. If you were to take the advantages of each system and merge them together, you could finally get that super OS for networks. When you add SUN's NetDynamics app server to that equation, things really get interesting.
(NetDynamics server allows you to make software into a web-enable application. An example of this would be PeopleSoft's ERP software can be access thru NetDynamics via a browser -- See Network World, 3/8/99 pg. 31 -- University of California at San Fran is doing this).
Novell also adds BorderManager and it's CACHE products to the mix which when optimized to run on SUN hardware could be very formidible in the ISP market. I could envision Novell commanding a large chunk (over 50% share) of the CACHE and CACHE appliance market in the next few years with SUN's backing.(what the means in terms of $$$, I'm not sure).
Integrating the Netscape software with NDS is a very interesting development I've been looking into. With the new version of NDS and native LDAP support, you can integrate Netscape server products into a NetWare environment and manage it through NDS. A large bonus indeed. (Currently you can do this to some degree of efficiency in NetWare 5)
Another area I'd like to bring to mind is consulting services and training. Novell is the clear market leader in training services (certifications) and SUN could do alot to benefit from that. If every Novell Authorized Education Center were to become a SUN Education center as well, that would go a long way into helping SUN and it's products.
With Consulting services...well, perhaps we all can take some clues from IBM. I'd like to see more of Novell's Consulting Services in the news but hey, that's just me... :)
And lastly I want to bring to mind one word -- JAVA. Novell boasts the fastest Java virtual machine in the world (on NetWare 5). Mike Sheridan (co-creator of the Java language) is now with Novell. Novell wants to make Java the next development platform for NetWare (in other words, they want to re-write NetWare in Java and make the system run completely in Java). Who else to help them do that than SUN?
Well, I'm sure there's more that I've missed but I'd be in favor of this takeover/merger. There's more synergy between the 2 companies and more upside than a merger with HP or LU (IMHO).
Peter Strifas |
