Lan Times Jan 19,1998 issue
lantimes.com
Novonyx mired in
parents' politics
Company formed by Netscape and Novell launches
first products, but mixed agendas create conflict
By Susan L. Thomas
s Novonyx Inc. earlier this month prepared to ship
versions of Netscape Communication Corp.'s World
Wide Web-server products for the Novell Inc. NetWare
platform, changes in the corporate control of the company
were already under way.
The shipment of these products was expected to help its
co-founders--Novell and Netscape--compete with
Microsoft Corp., but the awkward and competitive nature
of this partnership was leading Novonyx down a path of
conflict, according to industry observers.
Novonyx officials earlier this month said that management
changes were under way at the company but could not
release any details at press time.
An E-mail purportedly signed by "Novonyx employees"
sent to LAN Times last week said that Novonyx CEO Rob
Hicks had been replaced and that Novell was seeking full
control of the company.
Although Novonyx officials would not confirm that
Novonyx CEO Rob Hicks was being replaced and that
Novell was seeking increased control of the company,
Novonyx officials advised LAN Times not to publish an
interview with Hicks that had been conducted last month.
Hicks, reached at home last week, said that he had been
placed under a gag order.
Novonyx was scheduled to ship three of Netscape's eight
server products this week--the Enterprise Server,
FastTrack Server, and Messaging Server--all of which
Novonyx has ported to NetWare. Novonyx boasts about
50 employees and partnership agreements with several
companies including database giant Oracle Corp.
Indeed, both Netscape and Novell founded Novonyx with
high hopes. But analysts and users agree that the fledgling
company faces significant challenges in its quest to help both
Netscape and Novell combat Microsoft by cultivating
NetWare's viability as a Web applications platform.
Observers expected Novonyx to first take advantage of
both the Novell and the Netscape distribution channels and
build up reseller support of its own channels. Because
Novonyx has developed its products to be compatible with
NetWare 4.x, it also must move intractable NetWare 3.x
customers to higher versions of the NOS, a task with which
Novell has long struggled.
Analyst Tim Sloane at Aberdeen Group Inc., a consultancy
in Boston, said that Novonyx was making a mistake by
ignoring the NetWare 3.0 installed base, which he said
represents a large proportion of NetWare users. Whether
Novonyx can coerce Novell customers into upgrading
depends largely on whether or not Novonyx can develop a
rich applications environment, Sloane said. Without
development, customers will consider a move to Microsoft
Windows NT, he added.
Competition or cooperation?
In forming Novonyx, Novell looked to the company to
make its platform a more competitive development
environment, while Netscape was looking to Novonyx to
take a more evangelical role, spreading the range of
influence of its application-server products. For example,
Netscape users, as well as Novonyx itself, could benefit
from NDS (Novell Directory Services) and its Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) support, which would
let them manage their intranets with one directory.
One VAR and Novonyx beta tester sees demand for
applications developed for NetWare. NetWare customers
think they have to look to NT for Web applications, said
Nathan Durland, a senior engineer at Office Systems in
Plattsburgh, N.Y. Novonyx servers, he said, can solve
many companies' problems.
Developers who have been creating applications for
Netscape SuiteSpot servers are looking to use Novonyx
products on the NetWare platform to expand their markets.
CSG Interactive LLC, an applications developer in Tustin,
Calif., expects it will release business applications for
Novonyx servers in the first half of this year.
"It finally brings Novell up to speed as far as application[s]
development," said CSG President Paul Boyce of the
Novonyx servers. "It's a really complete solution for the first
time."
Such issues may have led Novell to take a greater interest in
Novonyx.
If Novonyx can establish itself by attracting the huge base of
static NetWare users to its products, then it will prove
successful, said Ron Rappaport, an analyst at Zona
Research Inc. in Redwood City, Calif.
Novonyx and Novell were negotiating a deal to bundle one
of the Novonyx Web servers with the upcoming NetWare
5.0 platform, due in the middle of the year. Novell has its
own bare-bones Web server that officials insist is here to
stay. Nevertheless, the agreement may illustrate the conflict
that at least one industry onlooker warned could hinder
Novonyx.
By choosing to make the newer versions of NetWare better
Internet development environments, Novonyx is competing
head-on with Novell, which could "cut Novonyx off at the
ankles," according to Aberdeen Group's Sloane. If Novell
duplicates services for the Web server, for example,
Novonyx will be left with no way to market its products in
the future, he said.
Adding value to Netscape's servers and providing
Web-based services remains a key strategy for Novonyx.
Still, the competition between Novonyx and its
co-founders--as well as the competition between Netscape
and Novell--has been recognized by all of them. Both
Novell and Netscape have mail and groupware products,
directories, and Sun Microsystems Inc. Java development
efforts under way. Novonyx has already decided to go with
Netscape's Messaging Server and Novell's directory.
Novonyx executives said there's enough growth in the
messaging and directory services market for both options to
thrive.
But the politics have been complex and far-reaching. For
example, Novonyx was deciding between the Novell or
Netscape Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Whether the competition was cooperative or
uncooperative, Novonyx officials were planning to move
beyond porting Netscape's products to the NetWare
environment.
"Our long-term goals are to supply standards-based servers
to [low-end] platforms, and that may encompass more than
just Netscape's servers and the other standards-based
servers that we feel have relevance for our target market,"
said Novonyx' Hicks in a December interview, adding that
Novonyx's target market more closely mirrors Novell's than
Netscape's.
Novonyx plans to roll out the remainder of the Netscape
servers by the end of the year. Netscape's Calendar,
Collabra and Proxy servers are scheduled to ship by
midyear, followed by the Certificate and Compass servers
by the end of 1998.
Novonyx officials have an optimistic outlook for the next
year. Officials said that by the end of 1998 they expect the
company to have more than 90 employees as well as more
than 1,000 business partners of its own, not including its
partnerships with Novell and Netscape resellers.
For more information, contact Novonyx at 888-668-6699,
novonyx.com; Novell at 800-385-7135,
novell.com; and Netscape at 415-937-2555, or
netscape.com. |
