Microsoft-Novell: Moving beyond virtualization 27 February, 2007 By Patricia Pickett

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Beyond virtualization, the Microsoft-Novell joint technology roadmap provides tools for managing a mixed environment, managing the resources needed to keep the environment running and making sure the applications that sit on top of the newly converged infrastructure run without too many complications, say analysts.

The two vendors said they are collaborating on standards-based solutions that provide scalability and flexibility in managing heterogeneous environments. The Web Services for Management (WS-Management) specification supports the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) initiative to expose management resources via a set of Web services protocols. Waltham, Mass.-based Novell Inc. is working with the open source community to develop an open source implementation of the WS-Management specification. Novell ZENworks Orchestrator and Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp.'s System Center Operations Manager 2007 will incorporate WS-Management this year, the firms said.

In addition, Microsoft and Novell said they are working on improving interoperability between their respective directory and identity products and technologies. The vendors said they would develop demonstrations that focus on interoperability between Novell eDirectory or Microsoft Active Directory using standards-based protocols, and promised to release a more detailed road map for this effort in the first half of 2007.

Directory and identity interoperability is important because both Microsoft and Novell have their own well-established platforms, said Tony Iams, senior analyst with research firm Ideas International Inc. in Rye Brook, N.Y. "Anything that allows the two systems to work better will be helpful for customers," he said.

Microsoft and Novell also reiterated their promise to deliver seamless interoperability between their respective office productivity applications. Novell is cooperating with Microsoft and others on an open source project to create a bidirectional translator for documents, spreadsheets and presentations between the OpenDocument format (ODF), which is supported by OpenOffice.org, and Open XML, the default file format for Microsoft Office. Earlier this month, Microsoft also released the Open XML/ODF Translator for Microsoft Word 2007, Word 2003 and Word XP. Novell is also to release an Open XML/ODF Translator -- the first product deliverable resulting from the Microsoft/Novell deal -- for its own edition of OpenOffice.org by the end of the month. Both vendors said interoperability will eventually extend to spreadsheets and presentations.

"(The work on the desktop) is something that certain sectors really care about ... because it will make their lives a lot easier," said Iams. However, there's really no shock factor in this part of the announcement, he said. In fact, all of the areas covered in the joint technical road map are "natural overlaps between the two companies." The only difference now is that whereas in the past Novell and Microsoft were antagonistic in these areas, they are now more collaborative, he said.

Channel opportunities

According to Warren Shiau, senior associate and lead analyst for IT research at The Strategic Counsel in Toronto, the channel should count on bigger market opportunities because they won't be forced to fall into one camp or the other. "If there's full interoperability, you have more of a market open to you and more products to choose from." Microsoft is also doing some promotional work for Linux, working as a "quasi-channel" for Novell by prepaying Novell for training vouchers, which it then distributes. This will "help the channel out without eating into its business," Shiau said.

Carmi Levy, senior research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group in London, Ont., noted that even though nothing concrete is shipping yet, the smart channel partners will be the ones that start looking for opportunities now within the broader ecosystem. "They will be looking at their client base and starting to have those conversations now to identify those multi-platform clients who would benefit from interoperability."

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em

Levy pointed out that Microsoft has acknowledged it does not anticipate bringing in huge revenues from the deal. However, Microsoft has "recognized that it has to play nice in the playground and cannot continue to build Windows in an island environment that does not interoperate," he said. Partnering with the enemy will enhance the business case for Windows acquisition in the future, Levy added.

From Novell's perspective, the agreement is an anchor for a company that has struggled in recent years to identify what are its core competencies. "Now it has access to resources that it previously did not have access to, in order to develop industry standard products." In this way, Novell will be able to solidify the business case for its Linux products moving forward, Levy said.

Shiau agreed that Novell is doing what needs to be done to drive Linux use. "It has to co-exist with Microsoft, and Microsoft is doing something that's undeniably good for users. The goodwill value in that alone is almost not measurable. Five to 10 years from now, this is probably going to be looked at as a deal that really changed the way things are."