02.27.10
Novell News Summary – Part III: Pulse, Brainshare 2010, Proprietary Products, SCO, Virtualisation, and Security
Summary: As indicated in the title, this is a collection of many news items spanning many subjects
NOVELL’S biggest news this time around is its financial report, but we will cover that separately. Here are some news clippings about Novell’s proprietary (or otherwise non-SUSE) side of business.
Pulse
Novell keeps talking about Pulse, but there isn’t anything substantial to be seen yet. Brainshare 2010 is apparently just a month away and the Var Guy mentioned it along with Pulse:
When Novell Brainshare 2010 kicks off March 21 in Salt Lake City, the company will put several initiatives in the spotlight. Among the top two priorities. Promoting Novell Pulse (a real-time communication and social messaging platform for enterprises) and promoting SUSE Linux software partners.
Here is a whole new article about Pulse:
I had the opportunity to spend some time with the Novell Pulse team and take a deep look at their new social software solution. Announced during the e2.0 conference in San Francisco last Fall, Pulse is being positioned as a real-time enterprise collaboration platform. Novel, no stranger to the traditional collaboration space, just may have something unique and compelling in Pulse.
e-Directory
There is nothing exciting to see here, but Novell’s e-Directory was mentioned in the following new press releases and articles:
i. DeskAlerts releases new desktop alert software version
The new desktop alert software version now supports Novell directory service, eDirectory. With this new feature, DeskAlerts becomes a truly multinetwork desktop alert solution, able to send alerts to technologically and geographically diverse networks.
ii. Active Directory: 10 years old and thinking cloud
Directory technology had already been mastered by Novell and Banyan, along with others such as Sun. Still, Microsoft charged out of the gate with the intent of taking the industry by storm. And it succeeded. Today, Active Directory runs in more than 90% of the world’s 2,000 biggest companies, while the rest of the market picks up the leftovers.
iii. How to configure LDAP to boost application security
Microsoft Active Directory provides an LDAP interface to Windows-specific user data, and both Active Directory and its lighter cousin, Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM), are used by applications as primary data stores for user information. Other options for user directory services include the OpenLDAP project, and enterprise software, such as IBM Lotus Domino and Novell e-Directory, are often extended through the use of LDAP.
iv. DeskAlerts releases new desktop alert software version
The new desktop alert software version now supports Novell directory service, eDirectory. With this new feature, DeskAlerts becomes a truly multinetwork desktop alert solution, able to send alerts to technologically and geographically diverse networks.
Netware
According to this new press release (also found in here), Arkeia has some new offering with which to complement Novell.
New Novell OES 2 and NetWare Agents for Novell GroupWise, eDirectory, and iFolder
More coverage can be found here.
Data backup and recovery briefs: Arkeia Software introduces Arkeia Network Backup version 8.2
[...]
And with the Novell agents, the SMS interface can perform hot backups of Novell file systems and applications as well as forward and backward compatibility for data backup and recovery operations on Novell platforms.
There are few other news pages that allude to Netware, which is declining rapidly.
Zenworks
We’ve found quite a bit of coverage about it over the past two weeks:
• Novell’s Zenworks powers admin staff at Olympic HQ
The Vancouver convention centre, which is currently hosting thousands of Olympic reporters from around the world, is using Novell’s Zenworks Configuration Management on its administration network
We also invited Novell for its ZenWorks product, but our publishing schedule didn’t allow enough time to get the software into our labs.
• NHS Bromley gets ‘Zen’ control
NHS Bromley has taken remote control of more than 800 PCs in its GP practices, using an IT solution from Novell.
• EHI’s industry round-up 25.02.10
Novell extends £6m NHS deal
Novell has announced it has extended its £6m NHS deal to provide IT security, infrastructure software and collaboration solutions in order to support the government’s cloud computing programme. The deal is for Novell’s Intelligent Workload Management solutions including ZENworks Configuration Management, Patch Management and SecureLogin and Teaming+Conferencing.
• Dell Buys Systems Management Specialist Kace
Kace products’ main system management rivals are Altiris, LANDesk, Novell ZENWorks and Microsoft SMS.
Legal
Groklaw has gathered a good collection of old articles about the SCO saga:
Of course, there was Groklaw, methodically answering SCO’s FUD on a daily basis, beginning in mid-May of 2003. But as you’ll see, the reaction to SCO was already formed, prior to Groklaw saying anything at all. Also, prior to Novell’s statement, which it made on May 28. It was immediate, it was negative, and it was international and across the board.
Then came a large number of posts about the latest from the SCO case:
It’s a plot, I tell you! The parties in SCO v. Novell are trying to cause me to lose my beauty sleep. Before I can finish doing the text of one filing, they file 25 more. Literally. They have filed between them 25 memoranda in opposition to the others’ motions in limine.
There is a lot more of that in:
- More darts – SCO’s opposition to Daubert hearings and to Chatlos, Michels testimony
- Judge Stewart Denies Novell Motion in Limine No. 7 – Updated 3Xs – More Orders Put SCO in a Real Pickle
- SCO & Novell’s Motions in Limine and Daubert Motions – A Chart
- Proposed Voir Dire Questions from Novell and SCO
- Santa Cruz Listed Novell as Owning the Copyrights in 1999
- Novell Moves Another Piece Forward: Files Request for Judicial Notice – Updated 2Xs
- Reports from the Final PreTrial Hearing: SCO v. Novell – Updated- Minutes, Pretrial Order
Virtualisation
Early in the week we wrote about the Xen/KVM situation Novell is in after a deal with Citrix, a company about the same size as Novell.
Novell’s Ian Bruce wrote about the subject and also referred to the proprietary option, VMware.
For those who missed the news, here is a short summary:
Novell SUSE is Citrix XenServer “Perfect Guest”
Novell and Citrix announced this week that Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) has been certified as a “Perfect Guest” running on Citrix XenServer, with optimized performance and joint support for mutual customers. Citrix also signed on to Novell’s PlateSpin Recon for Assessment Program, so Citrix Solution Advisers (CSAs) can use the PlateSpin Recon workload planning tool to accelerate server consolidation and virtualization projects.
Also see [1, 2, 3] and this Reuters report which came out shortly after the press release (making it one of the first ones).
Xen’s Simon Crosby wrote about it and so did The Register, which chose an interesting headline (the author previously suggested a merger of the two companies):
Novell flirts with Citrix
[...]
As it turns out, Novell is going to embrace KVM inside of SUSE Linux side-by-side with Xen. KVM was rolled into SUSE Linux 11 on both desktops and servers last March as a technology preview, a status it has held since that time. But Applebaum confirmed to El Reg that with Service Pack 1 for SUSE Linux 11, KVM will get official and full support running embedded inside of that Linux distro.
Novell has not divulged the date when SUSE Linux 11 SP1 might ship, but the company tends to do updates every 12 to 15 months. That puts it at somewhere between March and June of this year, which is roughly the time we expect to see Red Hat’s Enterprise Linux 6, which will put KVM in the forefront and which will not run on Itanium machines, as we previously reported.
And from another source:
Citrix Systems and Novell this week said they will collaborate on interoperability and assessment tools to reduce the costs and complexity of managing multiple virtual servers running on both Linux and Windows operating systems.
“Novell would be wise to support Xen and KVM,” says Paula Rooney. She has been writing about Xen for quite some time (although not so often).
There is nothing important to see here, except for Groupware support showing up in all sorts of articles, such as:
• CSC lays its cloud cards on the table
“The transition from an enterprise suite like Novell Groupware or Lotus Notes [to the cloud] is not trivial,” he said.
• RIM Touts New, “Free” BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) Express for SMBs
• RIM unveils free BlackBerry server
• RIM debuts free BlackBerry Enterprise Server for small businesses
• RIM to Roll out BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express
• Real-world Exchange Server 2007 migrations
Of those 550 respondents, 16.4% migrated from assorted non-Microsoft platforms including numerous versions of Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino, Novell GroupWise, Linux Postfix, Mirapoint products, Alt-N Technologies MDaemon and Ipswitch IMail Server. This minority of converts to Exchange Server 2007 also included several respondents that had previously used hosted email services.
• How Chatter May Win the Enterprise 2.0 Game (Maybe Even CRM)
The implications of this? Chatter becomes a core architectural component of organizations that adopt it, replacing (with simple and faster programming, and more powerful integration) Microsoft Sharepoint, IBM Notes, and (I feel nice today) even Novell Groupwise.
• RIM to Roll out BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express
• How to Set up an Email account on a BlackBerry Mobile Phone
• CompanionLink Announces Desktop Synchronization With Motorola DEVOUR
• Google Gains Momentum with Apps
Groupwise is generally losing clients, quite often to Microsoft and Google.
Security
New security issues have cropped up:
• Subject: [security-announce] SUSE Security Summary Report: SUSE-SR:2010:004
• ncpfs ‘ncpmount’ / ‘ncpumount’ Race Condition Security Issues
• Novell NetStorage Unspecified Code Execution Vulnerability
• Novell eDirectory eMBox SOAP Request Vulnerability
Here is something about Novell compatibility in an antivirus program. The following couple of press releases/articles also mention Novell in relation to security:
• CA Threat Manager For Linux Earns Virus Bulletin’s VB100 Award
CA, Inc. (Nasdaq: CA) today announced that its CA Threat Manager 8.1 for SUSE® Linux® has earned Virus Bulletin’s VB100 award. Virus Bulletin is one of the leading specialist publications in the field of viruses and related malware and is renowned for its independent comparative testing of anti-virus products and its VB100 testing.
• Small Software Security Firms Hack Into Market
Companies like Symantec(SYMC Quote), Check Point Software(CHKP Quote), McAfee(MFE Quote), Novell(NOVL Quote) and Sourcefire(FIRE Quote) stand to be beneficiaries of the growth in this market as consumers and businesses begin to see the desperate need to protect their systems against attack. Not all are attractive investments.
Carmi Levy at Processor.com is approaching Novell’s Richard Whitehead, as usual (for another quote).
“The common misunderstanding is that you ‘move’ to a virtualized environment,” says Richard Whitehead, Novell’s director of marketing for data center solutions (www.novell.com). “The reality is that virtualization is part of your IT infrastructure. You need to think intelligently about your data center across physical, virtual, and cloud. One of the largest oversights is in the management of virtualization, including security. Take time now to create a strategy, track the results, and ensure you are virtualizing for business reasons.”
People
Here is further coverage of Ron Hovsepian’s decision to change staff — a decision that we wrote about earlier this month.
Earlier this week IT Business Edge contributor Don Tennant wrote a post in which he suggested that IT industry groups such as TechAmerica should offer centralized training programs that would help folks gain the IT skills desired by employers. Novell CEO Ron Hovsepian once told Tennant he’d had to replace a quarter of Novell’s work force to obtain the skills he felt necessary to drive the company forward.
Why couldn’t Hovsepian retrain existing employees? He told Tennant:
… The cycle time is the biggest issue. The brutality of the pressure the company has to operate under in 90 days is what drives us.
The following personal profile contains the bit about Novell buying WordPerfect:
It was exactly 15 years ago that Alan Ashton made every other male on the face of the Earth look like a chump by comparison.
[...]
In 1994, they sold WordPerfect to Novell for $600 million.
The Advisory Board of Viewfinity is expanded, but watch who comes to the table:
Systems management icon Greg Butterfield, former CEO and Chairman of Altiris, is renowned for his business achievements that include the growth and mergers/acquisitions of WordPerfect to Novell…
There are other new examples of appointments that include former Novell staff (mostly executives). For example:
• Fidelis Security Systems Hires Gary Benedetti to Lead Worldwide Sales
Mr. Benedetti was most recently VP of Worldwide Sales for Epok, the industry leader in SharePoint security and SharePoint extranet solutions. Previously, he was VP of Sales for e-Security, prior to its acquisition by Novell where he was instrumental in the company’s growth and a key member of the management team throughout the sale of e-Security to Novell, remaining with Novell as the VP of Audit Solutions. Prior sales leadership experience includes serving as VP of Strategic Business Solutions for AOL, VP of Sales for the Eastern region at Netscape, and VP of Sales at Interactive Media, as well as senior sales positions with AimTech and Oracle.
• DPI appoints Butler to spearhead technical support service
Having started his career in technical sales support at Centerprise in 1990, Butler formulated firm knowledge of computer and network technologies, becoming a certified engineer on Novell, Microsoft, Cisco and Compaq systems.
• MEGA Appoints New Executive for International Expansion
Fort has worked with enterprise software companies for more than 25 years. He has held positions in sales, business development, and management at Oracle, Novell and Bull, and has consulted on business development, alliances, and marketing with leading software vendors.
Post-retirement malaise first pushed Kraig Higginson, an early investor in computer networking company Novell, towards saving the planet
Then there is this reference to Ray Noorda in the Indian press (also here):
All too often, such situations arise in business. There’s nothing good or bad, right or wrong about these. It is just the way things happen. Start-ups are no exception. Many years ago, Ray Noorda, the legendary founder of Novell, had popularised the word ‘co-petition’ implying that in business, cooperation and competition could go hand in hand. Indeed, there are umpteen such examples in automobiles, consumer goods and technology.
The “co-opetition” term is repeated in the ‘Microsoft press’:
Certainly, for Microsoft partners, this also raises some questions since most also carry gear from Cisco, HP or both. What’s your take on the implications of Cisco and HP going separate ways? Will we indeed see others follow suit? Among other things, could this lead Microsoft to rethink its strategy of working closer with the likes of Novell, Red Hat and Zend? Could co-opetition as we know it be on the line here, or is this just a case of Cisco playing hardball?
Partners
There is not much to see here except the Citrix relationship which was mentioned earlier. However, Novell was mentioned in some press coverage of other companies and their press releases too. We found examples in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]. Will Novell receive some CODiE honours this year?
Last year, Salesforce.com, Adobe and Novell were the recipients of multiple awards. This year, the cloud makes its appearance in a couple of new categories and there are many familiar — and some newer — names aiming for the biggest awards.
Novell also maintains good relationships with Utah and it offers room to this conference:
The conference includes presentations by and collaboration among BYU engineering students, international scientists and researchers. The event is sponsored by Novell, the Technology Center at Novell, and Sustainable Energy Solutions.
So, in summary, the main news is probably to do with Citrix. The rest is very minor. █
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