Novell pitches 'Net e-mail server

Novell's new Internet mail software may be late to the service-provider party, but there is some indication the software may garner interest from a different source: large corporate networks.

The company last week rolled out Novell Internet Messaging System (NIMS), an open standards-based e-mail server and Web browser client. The package is integrated with Novell's eDirectory data repository.

Chip DiComo, network manager for global transportation company Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, says he was looking for a standards-based e-mail product that works with multiple clients. DiComo will use NIMS to create a single address book for Hellmann's customers and some 4,000 users located in its Miami headquarters and in remote offices.

"We saved $6 million of the money we were planning to spend for a Lotus Domino installation, configuration and support by choosing NIMS instead," DiComo says. Hellmann spent $400,000 for its NIMS installation.

NIMS lets users deploy the mail clients of their choice or use a new Novell mail client that works with any Web browser. The package also has a mail proxy function that lets users retrieve messages from proprietary mail systems.

In addition, NIMS provides administrative tools and Web-based management that allows mail administrators to change passwords and set rules for mail forwarding and auto reply, as well as monitor and manage the mail system.

Some industry analysts contend that NIMS will have limited use in corporate networks and will not cause a migration from proprietary mail networks, which offer collaborative tools such as scheduling and task management.

"[NIMS] is unlikely to make a big splash in enterprise networks," says Mark Levitt, an analyst with International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. Levitt says that customers using sendmail or another Internet mail system may be enticed to switch to NIMS.

"Netscape had this solution several years ago and found that only limited portions of customers were willing to switch off their proprietary mail systems and go with something else, no matter how good that product was," Levitt says. "That hasn't changed, and it isn't likely to."

James Kobielus, an analyst with The Burton Group in Midvale, Utah, says corporate networks will have a tendency to complement their proprietary mail system with NIMS. It is quite possible those companies will add Internet mail capability for communicating with business partners and customers, as well as remote users. In five years, Kobielus believes there will be parity between Internet mail and e-mail in corporate networks.

Today NIMS is available on NetWare, with support for Windows NT, Solaris and Linux planned later this month. NIMS is available to corporate network customers for $20 per user, although those customers with license agreements with Novell can purchase it at a 30% discount.