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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: EPS who wrote (22303)	5/26/1998 10:36:00 PM
From: Paul Fiondella	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42771

(Off Topic) See message 22219 Victor Disclaimer: My posts are not intended to be viewed as trading recommendations or investment advice. The information which I post and the content of my posts are my opinions and are not to be read in the way in which you read Chairman Mao's little book in your past life.

To: EPS who wrote (22303)	5/27/1998 7:12:00 AM
From: EPS	Respond to of 42771

Java servlets are the preferred way to program Web pages served by Novell's IntranetWare server. Other languages, such as Perl, are available for IntraNetWare, however Novell has undertaken a concerted and comprehensive strategic direction for a programming language using Java. One reason for Novell's choice is Java's promise of "write once, run anywhere." Java is, therefore the language of choice for any programming task on NetWare servers, especially where the World Wide Web is concerned. This is a story of a how a simple client request initiated a company's strategic direction into Java. nwsolutions.com t's not clear to me when the Active Directory will be shipped. Some reports say late this year, with an expected slippage into early 1999. So, I don't think anyone should migrate to Windows NT Server with the expectation that Active Directory will immediately start to save money. In fact, will it save money at all? Yes, it will save money as compared to the domain approach, but will it save as compared to NDS or StreetTalk? Probably not, all three are directories, and I estimate that all three will save about the same amount of management time. Active Directory may have some nice features (Cisco has a lot of good ideas), but I don't think that it will be mature immediately. So add another six months to a year of managing with the domain approach. The bottom line question thus, is why switch? You can use both Windows NT and NetWare, the former for applications and the latter for file and print services. This will mean that you will only have to install a little bit more hardware-not the $300,000 or more involved in the total switch. This means that you will not have to change all installed software, such as gateways to legacy systems, but continue to use old software and only add new software as needed to work directly with the NT servers. I said in an earlier column that it now makes sense to think of migrating to Windows NT, but not to take the actual step until Active Directory has been shipped and seems mature. After viewing the cost research, I think that large organizations should carefully cost out what a Windows NT migration would involve in their situation-hardware, software, training, installation and planning-and compare this to use of NDS for NT, VIA or Synchronicity. For very small organizations, I believe Windows NT may be cost effective as compared to NetWare v3.x. Those in the middle face a difficult decision. Migration is something that animals do quite easily and humans with difficulty. In IT, the decision whether to migrate is particularly difficult. Unless clear benefits are seen in switching from A to B, it is usually less costly and less risky to integrate A and B. Integration need not be an alternative to migration, it might simply be a useful step towards integration. For example, in the case of NetWare and Windows NT, the long-term benefits to the organization may be to have a single network environment, meaning only NT. However, considering the directory situation, and all the expense organizations will be going through on Year 2000 migration over the next two years, it may make sense to integrate NetWare and NT until 2001. nwsolutions.com