Customers, analysts and partners apparently have started accepting Novell's sweeping move away from its legacy NetWare operating system to a variety of open systems, multiplatform applications that are designed to exploit the Internet. But few company watchers stand ready to judge the effort a success at this early stage. Novell's One Net strategy blurs the distinction between the networks users deal with every day. It treats a company's LAN, WAN, intranet, extranet, telephone network, the Internet and the computers and devices they use away from the office as a single network consisting of multiple operating systems and diverse equipment. Novell says that to safely conduct business on the Internet, users need to have directory and security services that span whatever operating system or equipment is encountered.
Customers see the strategy as a move in the right direction.
In July 1999, I presented a plan of how we were going to build a single network based upon a directory. Our network corresponds to Novell's One Net and is a huge success and a reality now. One Net includes an array of packaged software, appliances and hosted services for large companies, OEMs and service providers. Novell will continue to market NetWare via channel sales and hosted services. Partnerships are becoming increasingly important for Novell, and some experts believe the company needs to be more aggressive in that area.