02.21.09

Novell News Summary – Part IV: SCO Update, Report Coming Up, Teaming Deal

Posted in Finance, Identity Management, Mail, Mono, Novell, SCO, Security, UNIX at 8:00 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Novell-SUSE event

SCO

GROKLAW is still keeping quiet, but this does not mean that the Novell-SCO feud stays invisible. SD Times has a report about the latest in this case.

Novell has filed an objection to the SCO Group’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan that would involve a public auction of SCO’s assets.

The objection was filed yesterday, which was the deadline for companies to submit objections to SCO’s disclosure statement. Novell did not provide further information on the objection because the attorney working on the case was unavailable for comment. A Novell spokesman confirmed that the objection is rooted in what the company considers an inadequacy of SCO’s disclosure statement.

Finance

Apart from some blurbs about Novell, there was almost nothing but this overview from Joe. It’s previewing the “earnings” announcement (“losses” would be more like it).

1. More Than A SUSE Linux Company: Hovsepian needs to describe each of the core Novell product groups, and how they fit together to form a company that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Listen closely for info about Novell’s security and identity management efforts.

The channel strategy which was mentioned last week is still circulating around IDG Web sites.

Novell has announced global channel program enhancements and leadership appointments marking key milestones in Novell’s return to a partner-centric business model. Based on partner feedback, the company enhanced its channel program to increase partner profitability and simplify doing business with Novell. The company also increased investments in sales, marketing and enablement support for partners. The new channel leadership roles and partner program improvements align with Novell’s growth objectives in data center, end-user computing and identity and security solutions.

Here is an additional mention of Novell’s business, with a particular focus on Free/open source software.

The JargonSpy believes collaboration and participation in open-source communities has a significant payoff. Google, IBM, Novell, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT – news – people ), SAP and Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL – news – people ) all are active participants in open-source projects. How can we measure the value so that companies can be as smart as individuals?

Networking

This proprietary side of Novell appeared in very few places that include:

1. Sanctuary Device Control v4.1

With easy integration into either an Active Directory domain or a Novell network, this product has excellent flexibility. Device Control can work directly with the already created groups, users or computers in your current domain, providing extended permissions based on drives or ports.

[...]

At a price of US$45 per seat we find this product to be great for all environments. With integration into both Microsoft- and Novell-based networks it provides excellent flexibility. For its flexibility and strong features we award this our Best Buy.

2. 10-Q: CAMINOSOFT CORP

The Company has continued development of HSM products and currently supports all levels of Novell NetWare and Microsoft Windows 2000. In addition, the Company has been certified by Computer Associates as “ca smart” for compatibility with the Computer Associates BrightStor Portal and ARCServe back up products. In addition, the Company’s HSM product has been certified for use with EMC Centera and Centera Compliance edition storage hardware.

Virtualisation

Most of it was covered this morning because there is plenty of overlap.

Teaming

A new press release made it through, mostly with coverage in the Indian press that blindly followed.

Novell Teaming, a team collaborative application that includes enterprise social networking and workflow capabilities, allows Kempinski Hotels to centralise, manage and organise its knowledge assets, empowering employees to create and share information either across the hall or across a continent. With collaboration solutions from Novell, Kempinski Hotels is able to reduce costs and boost productivity.

From CIOL:

Novell today announced Kempinski Hotels, the management company for 56 exclusive five-star luxury hotels, residences and resort properties in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, has chosen Novell Teaming to increase collaboration and communication among its international workforce. Novell Teaming, a team collaborative application that includes enterprise social networking and workflow capabilities, allows Kempinski Hotels to centralize, manage and organize its knowledge assets, empowering employees to create and share information either across the hall or across a continent. According to to the press release, With collaboration solutions from Novell, Kempinski Hotels is able to reduce costs and boost productivity.

Mail

GWAVA had this press release about GroupWise, but that’s about it.

GWAVA, Novell’s largest technology partner for GroupWise, announced today that Vertigo is able to quickly generate reports on user-related information in a GroupWise system. These reports can help you determine if rogue rules or unauthorized proxy settings pose a risk to your environment.

“Vertigo lets me investigate any user-related settings in my entire GroupWise system in minutes. I’ve come to rely on Vertigo as an important part of my GroupWise tools,” says Paddy Verberne of the Municipality of ‘s- Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.

BlackBerry-GroupWise connectivity still earns a mention in many articles, which this week include:

It appears as though only the ‘big three’ on this area get sufficient attention from ISVs.

Since instant push email is any BlackBerry’s forte, all these handsets work with BlackBerry Enterprise Servers for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise, along with providing integration with existing enterprise and personal email accounts. Setting up accounts is easy.

Management

Novell released a tool for managing assets and it’s proprietary (original here).

The purchase of New Hampshire-based Tally was a very recent buy for Novell, which announced the move at the end of March.

However, although the amount of time between acquisition and product rollout might seem short, Tally spokesperson Randy Britton noted that the companies had been working together before the buyout.

Also, a great deal of post-acquisition enthusiasm fueled the process. “We’ve all been very excited to see this technology find a larger audience, and to work with Novell,” said Britton.

Here is a new IDG article about provisioning. It talks about Novell too:

Way back in the dark ages, 10 whole years ago, I first wrote about provisioning as the “killer app” for Identity Management. Actually, I called it the killer app for directory services, since the identity management tag hadn’t yet been promulgated. In a piece I wrote for Novell’s Web site (now, sadly, no longer available), I touted Business Layer’s eProvision Employee application and talked about what was to come. Sometimes prognosticators are wrong.

Security

A couple of security issues came up, but nothing was particularly serious. SUSE was affected too.

Partners

Novell’s name is spread quite generously throughout this press release.

Free upgrade provides small businesses with benefits of a fully compliant and secure messaging infrastructure without having to pay extra licensing fees
To help small businesses effectively meet the challenges of the tough economic times, Messaging Architects announced they are extending the Risk Free Messaging upgrade for Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition users worldwide.

[...]

The Risk-Free Messaging Upgrade for Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business Edition is available worldwide. For more information, contact Messaging Architects or any Novell Small Business Expert reseller.

Here is another firm that sells some of Novell’s products.

TECHNOLOGY group Faritec, which last week reported a fall in half-year earnings, has abandoned plans to buy Ubusha Technologies because of unfulfilled conditions.

[...]

Ubusha is a supplier of Novell identity and access management solutions, as well as Linux services.

There are other places where Novell is casually mentioned, such as this one.

The new Software Economics Council includes representatives from major enterprise software industry players such as BEA Systems, Dendrite, IBM, Novell, Oracle, SAP and Siebel.

Novell was also mentioned here, but it’s nothing of any importance at all.

All in all, with the exception of the takeover, this was an idle week. █

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