* Why Open Enterprise Server is a significant launch for Novell
I do trust that you’ve now been able to download your copy of the Open Enterprise Server public beta. If you wait much longer, you might as well just wait for the shipping product, which is still due out later next month. Between now and then we’ll spend quite a bit of time looking at the new package – what it is, what it isn’t, what’s in the box, what’s missing, why you need it and why you might not.
Make no mistake about it, this is the most important product shipment for Novell since the release of NetWare 5 in 1998. That release, and the buzz surrounding it, kept the company going when many thought that Novell’s end was in sight. The rumors were rife that someone (IBM, AT&T – even Microsoft) was ready to scoop up the networking company, primarily for its directory and directory-enabled technologies (such as ZENworks). That didn’t happen and the networking landscape – and the Novell product lineup – is changed now.
Other directory services are considered to be in a league with eDirectory. There are competitors (which there weren’t in ’98) to Novell’s identity-based utilities, like ZENworks. While Novell has added SuSE Linux, Ximian’s Linux utilities and applications and SilverStream’s Web services offerings into its fold, it’s not clear that the perceived value of the company is more than it was in ’98. Certainly, the stock price is less – but, then, most are so that’s not really a good indicator.
Nevertheless, this is almost a make-or-break situation for the company. Can it convince the current NetWare-using population to migrate to Linux? Can it entreat the erstwhile NetWare users who’ve moved to Windows servers to come back into the Novell fold? And not to be overlooked – can it convince the Linux-faithful (and the Unix purists) that Novell’s brand of Linux – with all its proprietary package, all its Wintel tradition – is the right platform to move to? Only time will tell. What I can tell you is what I’ve seen of OES, what I think about it, and what others are saying about it. I can offer suggestions about how to handle it and opinions about the directions you should choose to go. All that’s going to take a while, but hopefully I’ll get it all in before the product ships. Hold on tight, it could be a bumpy ride.
