* Novell markets different SuSE Linux versions to companies of all sizes
The impression I gathered from last week’s BrainShare is that Novell’s current thrust is going to be all about the packaging and the marketing.
SuSE Linux will be packaged up in a number of different offerings that combine the same basic operating system with different add-ons and services targeted at very different markets.
There’s the main offering: SuSE Linux Enterprise Server. Add an optional NetWare kernel to the package, throw in familiar NetWare utilities and tools and you have Open Enterprise Server, which always seemed to be identified as being “for workgroups.”
At the high end, the company announced the “Validated Configuration Program for the Data Center” (https://www.novell.com/news/press/archive/2005/03/pr05027.html), a way to have large enterprise packages of hardware and software tested and certified. At the same time, the company revealed a new offering, Novell Linux Small Business Suite 9 (yes, “9” even though it’s really Version 1.0 of the suite but based on SuSE Linux 9), which packages both server and desktop components along with GroupWise and some other Novell offerings.
Interestingly, the Novell Linux Small Business Suite 9 is not touted as a replacement for Novell Small Business Suite 6.5 (https://www.novell.com/products/smallbiz/) but as a “complement” to it.
While not offering as many combinations and permutations as Microsoft does with Windows servers (https://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/overview/products.mspx), the different packages does present a different image of the company, I think. Novell execs I talked to did indicate that this was a transitional period and the company was still trying to find the best way to offer all of the products and services in a coherent way.
And Novell does appear to be willing to try different methods of getting the products into users hands. For example, Novell announced that the next version of GroupWise (the one currently in beta, codenamed Sequoia) would include a free version of SuSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) to run it on. But only to run GroupWise on – no other uses are allowed.
Licensing does change with the new emphasis on Linux, and it could be confusing for some. We’ll tackle that issue next time out.
