* NAM's disappearance from Novell Web site was a simple error
There was a bit of a flap over the holidays when the product page for Novell Account Management disappeared from the company’s Web site. A couple of you noticed and sent me a note about it. The links were still there, but clicking on them brought up a “404: page not found” error.
As it turns out, it was a Web site glitch (i.e., some human forget to do something) that went unnoticed by the skeleton staff that worked in Provo over the holidays. Nothing sinister, no back door attempt to remove a product and all references to it, just a simple error. Or was it?
NAM grew out of Novell Directory Services – Corporate Edition (NDS-CE) which in turn, grew out of NDS for Windows NT (see https://developer.novell.com/research/devnotes/2000/may/02/dpv.htm for details of NDS-CE). It’s a way to manage your entire network (NetWare, Windows, Unix, Linux) from a single directory platform. NAM supports an impressive list of operating systems:
* Debian Linux Version 2.2 and later.
* FreeBSD Version 4.4 and later.
* HP-UX Version 11.0 and later.
* IBM AIX Version 4.3.3 ML 9 or higher.
* IBM Linux for S/390 and zSeries.
* IBM MVS/ESA Version 4 or later, or any OS/390 or z/OS release.
* IBM OS/390 eNetwork Communications Server V2R6 or later.
* IBM RACF Version 1.9 and later.
* CA-ACF2 Version 6.2 and later.
* CA-Top Secret Version 5.2 SP3 and later.
* Microsoft Windows 98.
* Microsoft Windows NT Version 4.0 SP6 and later.
* Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
* NetWare.
* SuSE Linux Version 7 and later.
* Red Hat Linux Version 6 and later.
* Sun Solaris Version 2.6 and later.
Looks like a really good product, doesn’t it? Customers think so. So much, in fact, that they’re reluctant to give it up. Novell would like them to though, because there’s a newer product, in many ways a better product, that’s available – nSure Identity Manager.
NSure Identity Manager evolved from DirXML, Novell’s synchronization and virtual directory engine. It really is a better way to integrate disparate system into a single enterprise directory. Check the product pages (https://www.novell.com/products/nsureidentitymanager/) and you’ll see why.
But in those pages you’ll also notice that it supports far fewer platforms than Novell Account Manager – and therein lies the problem for some users. They might like to move to the new product, but not until it supports their current platforms. Novell wants them to move, but can’t afford to antagonize any customers by dropping support for a very useful product. We’ll keep watching and see how this plays out.
