To: Paul Fiondella who wrote (24951 ) 1/12/1999 11:58:00 AM From: David O'Berry Read Replies (1) | Respond to
We had money in the budget two years ago to convert everything over to NT. I came in 1 1/2 years ago to this organization after having worked with every iteration of Novell from 2.x up. I have worked with NT from 3.5 up. The learning curve for NDS was fairly steep in the first 4.X versions. To tell you the truth it was complicated with few benefits actually realized at the start. By the time I came to this organization, NDS was in full swing but still had no real applications to speak of that actually enhanced the platform. From a management perspective, it was fantastic but very little value add was available. Patience paid off. It has been within the last year the value add has surfaced and the incredible strides the apps have made are almost unfathomable. Zen and BorderManager alone make an unbeatable case for NDS. Me and my staff are experimenting with the VPN technology within Bordermanager as we speak and the radius server for dial-in authentication works as advertised. Throw in Groupwise and the new IP only and it becomes a stellar line-up of products that no-one can truly compete against. I am researching BIO-hooks for authentication to NDS and have pressed Air-ID to develop not only for NT but for NDS as well. I continue to preach to every company that I do business with that they better not miscalculate the capabilities NDS brings and how those capabilities can impact enterprises. People are beginning to listen but most have the pointy head boss mentality. I have two MCNE certifications (one is integrating NT) and will soon be done with my MCSE and anyone who has worked with both products, if they are honest, will tell you the same thing. NO CONTEST. I use NT as an app server when I am forced by bone headed corporations to do so. Otherwise I use Unix as the app server with Novell as the file, print and authentication. I currently am looking at password secret options or for hooks into Sybase logins for NDS. Things like that need to surface and work. At that point, the directory truly will be the network. Bio or secure login to NDS and NDS with the keys to the rest of your apps and control of your desktop environment makes a wiz-bang combo. The funny part about this is that I have made these statements before on (i think) this same forum and been shouted down by the borg because I am only 27. It seems typical MSFT fashion to bring up things that are not relevant when you cannot compete against the facts. The only thing I wish is that I could warp back in time and brain the NOVL board about 4 years ago. NT should not even be in then same class. NOVL has always had the people to get it down but it has only been recently that these people have actually had a say. Anyway, two cents from someone who has been working inside computers since he was 11.
