Internet Solutions Division: THE CROSSROADS......
>>I agree with many on this board that NOVL should create a new division that has a clear focus to promote, develop, deploy, and market Novell's NDS and NDS-enabled products for the Internet market. This group should be called the Internet Solutions Division. It would be this division that would take on the Digital-Me, I-Chain, and other Internet oriented technologies. They would establish a Service Portal that uses these products (although they would also market the technology for Corp. use and to other ISPs to expand the NOVL product lines). They would identify and develop extensions to NDS and other NOVL products to meet the needs of ISPs.>>
Toy:
Thanks for the well-defined articulation of what's needed.
Before I ramble on, let's get right down to the heart of the matter.
Why should Novell fear this move?
What's preventing them from claiming this power and responsibility in this digital age?
Where's the blockage? Who's obstructing this move? And why?
From where I sit, this hesitancy probably is rooted somewhere deep inside Novell from an Old Guard group - a mix of engineers, old and new executives alike who have felt very comfortable playing behind the curtain of large corporations, pulling levers and pushing buttons which make enterprise systems more secure, scalable, efficient and open.
This Old Guard is probably articulating cues and hearing feedback from large corporate accounts that want to own and leverage various pieces of NDS to advance their own paradigms. With NDS having scored victories with some big names recently, there could be the feeling that "were're already on a roll, etc".
But this kind of evolution only repeats the Old Business model Novell had grown very comfortable wearing: "gotta come to us, we have the cards.....we will decide how to play them and we won't fully open up to our client base to run the show for we ARE the show."
But a New Business model is at work now, one in which voices such as those on this board and in others areas of the net are expressing the "white fire" energy behind the open source movement, where individuals, clients, "end users" are in control of this revolution.
This "new world" is knocking on Novell's door right now, asking, waiting, wondering if and when they are going to be allowed to be let in to "run Novell's show."
Yes, this IS the revolution we are talking about.
Yes, the lines ARE drawn between the two sides.
Will Digital Me become a stage horse masquerading around as one WE - the individual - ride?
Or will Digital Me be targeted to large corporate accounts such at CitiGroup where this technology can help them leverage and protect their existing control over their clients, etc.
It's time for Novell to decide what side of the fence they are going to remain dedicated to: corporations or individuals.
If they decide to carry out a Digital Me masquerade, we, the people will see and smell it out in a virtual second. Perhaps we will remain patient and wait around for awhile to see if they really want to continue in this direction, but there won't be much time, patience or gray space to make this decision.
Active Directory WILL eventually see the light of day.
We know Gates WILL go for the jugular. Beyond their "buy-in" to an all-NT world, he could care's about corporate accounts. He wants the "client" and given his history he will doggedly pursue this single-minded focus.
But we all know the catch. Does the client want Bill?
Corporations know this about Microsoft. If they haven't already figured this out they know that Gate's is a master at playing both sides of the fence right up until the precise split second where he's 1) maximized the uncertainty of his direction, 2) completely understood the weaknesses of those aligned against him; and 3) decided to attack and go for the jugular for the "lock-down" fix - by either giving it away or promising things he has no intentions to really deliver quickly in order to freeze out an already uncertain marketplace.
What side of the fence will Bill play on?
Big corporations?
or
Individuals?
If you ask me, Gates has powerful hands to play on both sides of the fence.
Enough cards to show big corporations that patience waiting for an all-Windows solution to eventually win out: patch here/there, divide Windows in fragments and play and coddle to each vertical. Treat each vertical as if THEY will drive development. Keep the enterprise juice train rolling by breaking it down into smaller segments, bring in new engines, let each car and the people in it feel as if they have found a home and that they can have their own engineers.
You can see and feel what he's doing. He's "spinning for time". He has to move his clientbase off "Internet time" and into "crazy time" where HE controls the clock. The only way he can succeed in doing this is by appearing to GIVE-UP control and power to end users - individuals AND his corporate client-base.
So with IE 5.0 we all get added features, but get "Hotmailed" into excepting MORE restrictions, etc.
You get the idea.......
This strategy of fragmenting the Windows train, appearing to give up more power, throwing NEW features in while adding NEW restrictions plays well in "crazy time".
To an internetworked world, this is the equivalent of fraternity hazing. We are all drunk, comfortable, among friends and told to do this and that crazy thing for some crazy reason all for what??? So we can be part of Bill's brotherhood?
In the end, true to his history, Gates will try to masterstroke his way into reassembling HIS train with new proprietary couples, cars and engines for the next "default ride" to platform glory.
To me, Gates new book, Business At The Speed of Thought, is an anthem to the Old Business model executives. Just digitize, virtualize and seamlessly flatten, empower and spin more energy into your branded domain. Embrace and incorporate a - read MY - Digital Nervous System to grow YOUR enterprise.
And if these executives haven't read the ClueTrain Manifesto - www.cluetrain.com - the problem with Gates book is that the power has already shifted. Individuals - NOT CORPORATIONS - are in control of the conversations that drive community, products, initiatives, and whole enterprises......
But Gates is blowing the right smoke to an old club of executives who have lost control. Somehow, he's saying, get MY Digital Nervous System and you will have more control while things get further out of control. Gates knows the power has shifted. The book is an attempt at wearing a new suit to convince others that he has the tools. He's not telling these executives that conversations between employees, clients and "the enterprise, the network - i.e. MY network/Windows - in effect IS the company" Looking out, if these "conversations" get factored inside Windows Gates has the potential to control the world - but only through some Big Brother, Big Corporation, Big Bill handshake.
Gates is playing his last hand. And he's a master at poker.
He's got Y2K as an excuse. He's created "crazy time". He still has FUD under his belt. Don't discount this guy. Don't gloat that Active Directory won't have enough features. He's already adding restrictions to every "new" release he's giving away in the interim and individuals aren't all that "Clued-In" quite yet into organizing a resistance.
So the balance of power is still with the giant corporations.
The ClueTrain - www.cluetrain.com - may have left the station but there aren't too many cars attached and we need a bigger engine.
As for Novell, the best thing they can do right now is decide to open up and let the "power of community" drive not only their growth, but also their entire direction.
Let INDIVIDUALS embrace, ramp up and run with and to the power of NDS-centric apps.
Let INDIVIDUALS take o
ver Novell's platform.
Let "community" reign.
Let Digital Me embrace ME.
Let conversations between employees, clients, individuals reign....
Let go......
Form the Internet Division by simply opening a door. An entire crowd - inside and outside - will walk through.
Novell, your future is up to you....
AND us.....
GO!! |
