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

To: Loring who wrote (24730)	12/16/1998 3:03:00 PM
From: ToySoldier	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42771

Read this one folks. This might put a dent into Novell's NDS plans... IBM aims to put its directory house in order By Mary Jo Foley and Ed Sperling, Sm@rt Reseller December 16, 1998 1:24 PM ET IBM officials think they've found a way to bring some interoperability to the myriad directories in place throughout the company. The solution, says IBM, is its own metadirectory technology, which the company plans to layer on top of its eNetwork LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directory service. IBM is slated to unveil its metadirectory plans today. The eNetwork directory is IBM's answer to Novell Inc.'s NDS (Novell Directory Services) and Microsoft Corp.'s forthcoming Active Directory. It is based on the engine that is at the heart of DB2. IBM says it opted to rely on its own directory, rather than adopt one of the industry-leading ones, because NDS and Active Directory aren't scaleable enough to meet its needs. But while IBM (IBM) is integrating eNetwork into its own AIX, OS/400 and OS/390 operating systems and relying on eNetwork as the backbone for its NT suites, not all parts of the company seem to be as set on making eNetwork their directory standard. Tivoli: To NDS or not to NDS? IBM's metadirectory announcement comes on the heels of its Tivoli Systems division's endorsement last week of NDS. Tivoli and Novell announced that in the first quarter of 1999, the two companies will integrate Tivoli Inventory, Tivoli Software Distribution and Tivoli User Administration with Novell's NDS. But IBM's eNetwork officials say that IBM plans to go Tivoli's NDS integration one better. "IBM's strategy is to integrate its individual middleware products -- i.e., WebSphere, Windows NT Suites and Tivoli -- with LDAP Directory version 2.1 beginning in 1999," according to a company statement. And as of this week, Tivoli is shipping a technology preview version of its LDAP Connection with Tivoli User Administration 3.6, which makes Tivoli's management products accessible via LDAP and, by extension, IBM's eNetwork directory. "Tivoli did not sign a bundling deal with Novell for NDS," said Jamil Bissar, IBM's directory marketing manager. "Tivoli has its own [engine] for its data. They haven't made a decision yet to change their internal directory." Lotus: Not a sure bet, either When and whether IBM's Lotus Development Corp. subsidiary will adopt eNetwork is uncertain as well. "We've had discussions with Lotus about eNetwork, but the thinking for now is they'll integrate with eNetwork via the [IBM] metadirectory," said Bissar. Bissar claims that IBM and Lotus are thinking on the same lines, however, with both viewing LDAP as they key to integration. "The Domino director will interoperate with eNetwork via programming interfaces and replication," he said. The view from inside Lotus, meanwhile, is that no vendor's directory services will dominate the computing world, so Lotus won't play favorites unless that situation changes. "Our directory strategy is to continue to support multiple directories," says Ken Bisconti, senior director for communications products marketing at Lotus. "Most companies don't think the industry will ever get to a single directory, and no one believes Active Directory or NDS will be everything." In the short term, Lotus will add support for the Active Directory Support Interface, and will support NDS through LDAP. Bisconti says that if Novell makes great strides in the marketplace, Lotus will reevaluate its position. IBM scores some wins Some parts of IBM are on the eNetwork bandwagon, however. IBM has announced that its WebSphere Application Servers will include integrated eNetwork 2.1 support by the time of WebSphere's next release, which is likely to be in the second quarter of 1999. And as part of its metadirectory announcement today, IBM is announcing that seven of its business partners have agreed to integrate with eNetwork. These partners are Security Dynamics, Persistent Systems, DAVCOM, Allot Communications, EnCommerce, Netegrity and Triangulum. Meanwhile, IBM's Global Services division is reiterating support for eNetwork by announcing it will provide development, management and integration support for eNetwork. In addition, IBM is planning a series of Directory Developer Workshops for education and training in LDAP technology to be held in Austin, Texas, in the first quarter of next year.

To: Loring who wrote (24730)	12/16/1998 3:55:00 PM
From: Paul Fiondella	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42771

No place for enterprise products Of course not. There's money in the enterprise. Ask IBM. But for Novell to gain momentum and GET BACK TO REVENUES OF $400 million plus a quarter, they have to have a better strategy then just enterprise directory management of internal networks. Novell has to have an internet strategy. The internet is a consumer as well as business market. Read my post from that point of view and you'll understand it.