As the leading provider of technology that links computers in networks, Novell Inc. is well-positioned to capitalize on booming interest in both the Internet and intranets.
Company officials hammered home that message during the opening day of BrainShare, Novell's weeklong technical conference at the University of Utah. About 7,000 people are attending the conference, which includes more than 250 workshops on building and maintaining networks using Novell products.From the keynote speech by CEO Robert J. Frankenberg to question and answer sessions with press and analysts, Novell said it wants to be considered as the Internet company.
"Novell is the only large software company totally focused on networking, with the commitment to create great networks," Fran-ken-berg said.
The company's strategy centers on creating smart networks and expanding them beyond computers to hook into everything from cars to telephones.
Novell is particularly interested in the intranet market, private networks inside companies, which is likely to experience about 80 percent growth.
"We are very keen to drive the intranet market," said Vic Lang-ford, general manager of Novell's Internet/intranet Services Business Unit.
The company announced two licensing agreements - one with Sun Microsystems and the other with Open Market Inc. - it said will bolster the attractiveness of Novell-based networks. Novell will pay both companies unspecified sums for the licensing agreements.
The Sun deal will allow Novell to including the Java program language with its NetWare products. That ensures Novell networks run Java programs and lets developers use the language to create programs specifically to run on NetWare.
While Sun has signed licensing agreements with other companies, including Microsoft, this is the first deal with a network server provider.
"We are going to use Java for a number of base utilities and capabilities," Frankenberg said.
With access to Open Market Inc. technology, Novell will be able to develop electronic commerce solutions for the Internet and in-tra-nets. Novell plans to integrate Open Market's OM-SecureLink technology with NetWare so customers will be able to create and maintain online stores and do electronic transactions over the Internet's World Wide Web.
Steve Markman, general manager of the Novell Products Group, said the announcements fill out the roadmap Novell charted last fall, which centers on getting back to its networking roots.
Industry observers said the deals may be a bigger boon for Open Market and Sun - whose products will soon be in the hands of Novell's 55 million customers.
Novell's strategy for the future won both praise and criticism.
"They've clearly identified and recognized the big business is the Internet/intranet," said T.C. Doyle, an industry editor for CMP Publications. "This is the first real step that shows promise of catching up and overtaking any leaders."
Jamie Lewis, of The Burton Group, called Monday's announcements a "good news/bad news thing."
While the licensing agreements, particularly with Sun, are good, Novell still hasn't set out a larger context for achieving its goals or for dealing with Microsoft, which is making its own inroads in networking, Lewis said.
But Frankenberg said his company is back on track and will be a strong player in the Internet/
intranet arenas.
Novell officials also laid out plans to make its NetWare Directory Service pervasive. The service allows computer users to access files and information on a network from anywhere.