NetWare everywhere: Promise or pipe dream? - Novell's plan to challenge Microsoft - Cover Story

Software Magazine, June, 1995 by Elizabeth Harding

According to Evslin, AT&T GIS will bring together two disparate directory services: ANCS and AT&T Network Notes. ANCS is based on NDS, while AT&T Network Notes uses directory services from Lotus.

"Providing common directory services is extremely important," said Evslin. "If each application has its own directory services, you can't get pervasive computing."

Frankenberg says the AT&T GIS deal shows just one reason that a combined Novell-Lotus entity would be a solid operation. He said a merged company would allow Lotus to expand its Notes revolution and that such a move would be "important to our shared customers."

Another Novell initiative to make pervasive computing a reality is Novell Embedded Systems Technology (Nest). With the release of the Nest software developer's kit in February, Novell opened up its networking technology so intelligent devices can become NetWare ready. Nest will allow OEM partners to extend NetWare into faxes, copiers, telephones and pagers.

Novell has also partnered with Hewlett-Packard and Xerox Corp. to produce the NetWare Distributed Print Services (NDPS) architecture. According to King, NDPS is built on NDS and will coexist with current print services. It mill be available in the first quarter of 1996 as an add-on to a future NetWare release.

And what of Novell's applications strategy? Novell, says Frankenberg, is on course in the applications arena. He said he spent his first year as CEO eliminating product initiatives that "caused us to lose focus" - primarily the former Novelldos and Appware Foundation lines.

Novell's GroupWare Division, formed after the WordPerfect purchase in 1994, owns the GroupWise, Softsolutions and Informs products. The division is working on an infrastructure, code-named Eclipse, that will allow acquired products to work as integrated modules. "We have shipped separate products in the past through ODMA [Open Document Management API]," said Bob Young, the group's vice president of marketing.

Frankenberg is pleased with GroupWise 4.1, Novell's enterprise-wide messaging system, whose market share went from 4% to 15% in one year. And, last April, the GroupWare Division shipped Informs 4.1, an electronic forms application package that is integrated with NDS.

As for WordPerfect, the word processor is managed by Novell's Business Application Division. Last January, Novell introduced Perfect office, a suite containing WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, GroupWise and other tools.

Why did Novell buy a non-networking company? Said Frankenberg, "Novell is about connecting people together, not only networks. That's why we bought WordPerfect."