As the industry shifts towards e-commerce and the implications of
the Internet on business practices become apparent, Novell is
looking to cash in on the opportunities for its directory.
Steve Brown, Novell’s managing director for the UK, Middle East and
South Africa, highlights the directory as key to ensuring
businesses team up with the right partners.
He insists Novell’s one Net strategy, under which all types of
networks work together in e-business, is still very much at the
cusp of that. “The Internet. Nobody is trying to sell the benefits
of the Internet. People are trying to find a particular niche out
of what’s up for grabs.
“For some time, people have been trying to master the
complexities of it — it really is a balancing act between the
benefits and the complexities.”
As Novell tries to tap into the Internet opportunity, Brown
reveals: “We’re going back to the organisations who have used, are
running and have developed Novell-based systems inside the
firewall.”
But he admits there can be a conflict within an organisation
about the firewall. “The IT manager sees the firewall as something
to keep all the bad guys out, but the marketing director sees all
the users outside the firewall as customers and wants to be able to
communicate with them.
It is a dilemma as to how to do that.
“If a company aligns the same security, profiling, tools and
skills it’s using internally and delivers them externally to
customers, the organisation moves from 500 users to 8m customer
connections.”
Brown adds the bonus is that it’s the same people running the
internal as the external, so there is no extra cost in terms of
resources. To back up his claims, he points to its “proof points
around that concept” — its projects with the Ministry of Defence
and Bracknell Forest District Council.
But he warns Novell is taking its time. “It is very clear where
we are going. The vision is clear, but we can only move at the pace
of the market. It is difficult to keep ahead of the market, but
there is a great deal of market confidence. People are now
recognising Novell for more than just NetWare, although that’s
still a key part of our strategy.”
But the real challenge with the Internet world is that it is not
a single platform, he insists. “Most of our customers deal with
more than one platform, so it is important for us to ensure our
directory is available on different platforms, such as Linux and
Solaris.
“When we port our services to Linux and Solaris, new partners
will be required because it will involve a whole new range of
skills — partners are all the more key in this space.”
A connected vision
Novell is also looking to cash in on Tony Blair’s vision to have
connectivity with every citizen in the UK by 2005.
Which raises the question, how do you do that? Brown claims the
government knows it will not happen overnight, but the Bracknell
Forest pilot is the type of connection we will be seeing and it is
all based on the directory.
Brown admits that despite all the fighting talk, Novell’s brand
is still not highly visible in the market. “I often talk to company
directors who say Novell is a new name to them. But every morning
they log into Novell and it takes care of all the connectivity and
profiling issues within the company. While the public perception
may be of limited visibility, Novell is doing some very key things
within organisations.”
He adds Novell is identifying the need for the directory to link
with multi-platforms.
Mobile access
Brown predicts mobility as another key driver. “I think this
drive will increase to the point where the services currently
available on the network in the office will be available
everywhere.”
But Brown warns there are still a lot of internal problems that
need resolving. “The cost of managing PC desktops has not gone
away. How do we deliver application services to the desktop and
keep up to date with software revisions while delivering across
multi-platforms?”
The answer is an opportunity for partners to go into companies
and install the directory and add value by offering network
management for the remote workers.
Although the ASP market may hold the key, Brown says it is not
there yet. “The problem with ASP is who wants to have control of
the software. Organisations going to ASP are those who
traditionally outsourced.”
He argues that ASP is competing with that model because it
really is just a point service. But the real advantages will come
when the ASP takes information from that application and looks at
user profiles and uses it to sell other services and products.
“This is where the directory comes in and manages the process by
linking all of the systems. At the moment, each service is run on a
separate directory. This will be a real opportunity for us when the
market grows.”
While highlighting the fact some were using the e-channel to
lock suppliers and customers into a single source, Brown dismisses
it as a viable option in the long run. “All you do is add overheads
by forcing users to buy via old methods, rather than the cheaper
option of the Web.”
Instead, he argues, the way forward will involve systems such as
Novell’s MoD exchange, which links all the MoD’s suppliers into an
exchange.
“The enabling technology in that model is the directory and I
think this will be key in business, where it can match the profile
of the supplier with that of the customer — taking the chance out
of the customer’s decision.”
Brown believes it’s a particular opportunity for SMEs, which may
not have huge visibility in the market, but by making their profile
available on an exchange can compete with their bigger rivals.
“The directory is important to the small guys now — an area
where Novell has not had much success — and we will be taking on
partners to tackle the SME arena.”
To explain the concept, Brown points to its Bracknell Forest
programme, which is designed to provide 110,000 citizens, all of
whom have an electronic profile which is managed by NDS, with
secure access to council applications such as council tax and
planning.
“The idea is to extend this to all councils across the UK,
linking them so that details can be transferred if you move area or
work in one borough and live in another. It is also planned to go
further into central government to give the public access to
government services.”
He believes such information could be key for businesses because
they can see where the skills are and monitor things such as
business rates and planning applications from outside the area,
even out of office hours.
There is also an increasing desire to guarantee certain levels
of service on the network without the need for someone to manage
the network at each branch. “This has huge implications for
business in terms of keeping network management costs down because
the maintenance is centralised.”
The only unanswered question is whether Novell can capture the
opportunity and establish the brand as the key to e-business
success.