When Red Hat's CEO, Matt Szulik, was asked recently by the U.K.'s Computer Business Review what impact Novell's purchase of SuSE had had on his company's business he replied: I can't think of any," adding, "I think people like the idea of this 5,400-employee software company buying up a German Linux distributor. I think they liked the theater of it."
Meet the Windows Server 2008 robot
Help on the way for SMB telephony reseller margins being squeezed to death by Cisco
E-Mail article
|
|
Print article
|
|
Contact author
|
Reprint
|
AIM article
|
del.icio.us |
Reddit
|
Digg
|
Stumble
|
Slashdot It!
|
This really rankled Novell spinmeister Bruce Lowery who commented: "If this is theater, we're still in the first act. The fat lady hasn't sung yet." Still, Red Hat is able to say that it has more subscription revenue in EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa) than Novell's entire worldwide Linux revenue. That's true, to a certain extent. Novell did report SuSE Linux Enterprise Server revenue of $8 million in its third quarter, ended July 31. Red Hat had subscription revenue of $54.3 million in its second quarter, ended Aug. 31, according to the CBR article. But this neatly avoids looking at the revenue from Open Enterprise Server - $31 million last quarter - even though much of the OES business is driven by its Linux core.
While I've never been shy about criticizing Novell when it's wrong (and that does seem to happen far too often), Red Hat's self-serving comments really need to be put into perspective. After all, there was a time when Lotus 1-2-3 outsold Excel. And, even earlier, when Visicalc outsold Lotus. Nothing is static in the world of software. Just ask Novell, which fondly remembers when NetWare outsold all other networking systems combined.
What Lowery was perhaps too polite to point out was Novell's utter dominance of Red Hat in the areas of identity management, network management and collaboration services. Szulik's comments may well be the desperate remarks of a CEO who sees his company's lead slipping away. Linux may not be in your future plans, but if it is then SuSE Linux (via OES) is by far the best choice for your network.
Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print "Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be found at Virtual Quill.
Kearns is the author of two Network World Newsletters: Windows Networking Strategies, and Identity Management. Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these respective addresses: windows@vquill.com, identity@vquill.com .
Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books, manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing, technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail.
| Start a public discussion with other Network World users on this article (scroll up to send this article to a colleague). Log In | Register for an account (Why you should) |
Note: Register to have your user name appear; otherwise your comment will show up as "Anonymous."
*Anonymous comments will only appear once they are approved by the moderator.
Copyright 2008 Network World Inc.
Browse Newsletter categories: Branch Office Best Practices | Convergence | High Speed LANs | Identity Management | IT Careers and Training | IT Leadership | Linux | Messaging | Network Optimization | Network/Systems Management | New Data Center Strategies | Novell NetWare Tips | Optical Networking | Outsourcing | Security Strategies | Servers | Service Provider News Report | Small Business Technology | Storage in the Enterprise | Technology Executive | View from The Edge | Virus and Bug Patch Alert | VORTEX Digest | VPNs | Web Applications | Wide Area Networking | Windows Networking Strategies | Wireless in the Enterprise |
|
Does Verizon's Voyager stack up to the iPhone? |
5 IT skills that won't boost your salary [1,407]
Women 4 times more likely than men to cough up personal info [589]
Japan's 10 funniest tech-related commercials [Videos] [407]
Throwing away a promo CD is "unauthorized distribution"? [1,265]
Adults too quick to dismiss educational video games [682]
Attack of the iPhone clones [Slideshow] [578]
10 things IT needs to know about AJAX [1,258]
This Year's 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries [Slideshow] [409]
Comprehensive Network & Voice Management Visit CA Network & Voice Management Resource Center and get insights into industry best practices, information that helps you to address your challenges.
Voice over IP (VoIP) has much to offer in cost savings but some customers have concerns about VoIP call quality compared to the quality of traditional voice services. This white paper will help you learn how to take the right steps so that voice quality is assured.
Managing your network is serious business. This paper discusses the benefits of integrating configuration change-awareness into your network fault management solution
