Anyone know about the Novell Open Workgroup Suite for Small Business

Question

http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/19813.html

Answer 1

Tim,
Yes Novell needs more commitment and win back the hearts of old Novell
supporters
like yourself and me included.
Unfortunatly, I can't see anyone from Novell let alone a VP or his boss
although I think
this would be a very good sign.
Even if a cleaner at Novell calls you its something!!!
Please post if you get a call!!!
Personally - I can live without Bordermanager, NSS and Zenworks
Netware is gone - there really is NO life left as there is no 64bit.
Lets move on and Linux is the way but lets not forget Windows & AD now rules
the world.
The new NOWS product looks good. Still a few rough edges but like you said
shows the product
had been moth balled for 18 months - still its an alternative to MS SBS.
Novell Small Business discussion group with ACTIVE support from Novell
employees much
like the MS forums would be nice.
Direct Support call costs need to come down.
Novell needs MORE distributors and offer a OEM deal for system builders
Novell need to court partners - otherwise its a dead duck
MS asks users for feedback - there was one last week on "Competition" in the
MS SBS forum.
In the UK - everything Novell does is based in Bracknell - they need to get
out and about in the country
and offer dealers FREE "Intro Training" so they are comfortable selling
Linux
"Tim Wohlford" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected].. .
>I was once a very loyal SBS guy -- Gold partner, etc. I'd still love to be
> one, but I remain a sadly skeptical ex-partner. I still make my living w/
> Novell products, including a new job that I took when my SBS-centric
> business failed (fair disclosure, right?). I'm also a firm believer that
> Linux needs to replace Netware.
>
> Herb points out many of the fact involved here. Let me emphasize a few:
>
> 1. No ZEN in this products. ZEN alone is a reason to keep Novell. I
> think
> that ZfD adds another $50 per user. There is supposed to be something in
> this that handles dynamic local user, which is my first concern. There is
> also no BorderManager, but most of the SBS people understand that the
> world
> has moved on from that product.
>
> 2. Based on SLES 9, not OES2. Upgrade to SLES 10 is the lure to get you
> to buy support (below).
>
> 3. With the exception of Groupwise, you can download an free equivelent
> most of it , which begs the question. If you want a 5-user freebie, then
> I'd suggest going that route, or M$ SBS if we're talking about a
> non-profit (TechSoup.org).
>
> 4. As Herb stated, there is distrust on the part of SBS installers
> towards Novell. Novell is currently run by former IBM execs. IBM
> considers 1,000 seats and $100k in annual purchases to be a small account.
> I was told directly from a Novell VP (ex-IBM) that there would never be
> another SBS last December, and while this product is labeled SBS, and came
> in response to pointed criticism at Brainshare, it is simply a NOWS-based
> product that was ready to be introduced when the SBS team was dissovled
> about 18 months ago. Novell admits that the target market for this
> product is 50-200 users, which means that Novell still doesn't want the
> 5-50 user customers. Novell has not announced any partner program which
> would take care of the 1- and 2-person shops which usually provided
> support for SBS clients, which means that they don't want small parters --
> we don't "bring value" was the phrase that the VP told me. As far as I
> can tell, there is no SBS division like there was in years past.
>
> I will totally recant everything I've said here, and written on Abend.org,
> if I get a phone call from that VP (or his boss), but I've yet to see any
> tangible evidence of changes at Novell.
>
> 5. Support is a problem. $650 per incident compares with $250 for M$
> (and
> free if it's a office-down situation). Novell has very few techs left at
> Provo, with most of the support going to the call center in India. The
> maint agreement gets you chat support and access to web support (better
> than
> Support by Goggling?). My understanding is that Novell wants to sell
> annual
> support for $80 per user per year, unless you want support for Netware, in
> which case it's a lot more. You won't get SLES 10 unless you pay for
> support. In fact, I'm wondering how patches will be handled for customers
> who don't have support agreements. Most 5-50 user shops are not used to
> paying for annual support agreements for anything but their accounting
> software, or maybe a specialized app.
>
> 6. Upgrade from SBS to this version is a problem. Forget about
> same-server
> upgrades -- this is Linux, and requires a wipe of the box, so most
> existing
> installs will only upgrade when they get a new server. In addition, no
> one
> can tell me how support agreements, based on NOWS seats, works if you've
> also go Netware-based SBS licenses.
>
> 7. The competition is very good. MS calls me at least twice a month
> asking
> if I need anything. They've sent me MCSE study kids, free copies of SBS,
> test vouchers, and free tech support. MS wants the SMB-SBS clients; after
> all, M$'s enterprise efforts started out with NT 3.51 as a Windows for
> Workgroup replacement! And, the stuff is easy to install, and runs very
> well once you get it configured. It's not at all perfect -- there are
> some
> things that I REALLY hate about M$ SBS -- but it's very good.
>
> At this point, I'll note that M$ won the battle by cherishing each small
> network as they grew up. Dell pushed IBM out of the PC market with the
> same strategy - selling to small customers until the big ones notice.
> Neither M$ or Dell have forgotten that lesson, and conversely, the losers
> have yet to learn.
>
> 8. The marketing phrase, "You can save up to 80 percent on your software
> acquisition costs by selecting Novell Open Workgroup Suite Small Business
> Edition instead of a Windows-centric environment from Microsoft" is, well,
> a
> stretch. That price includes a purchase of M$ Office Pro instead of using
> OpenOffice, using XP instead of NLD, as well as purchsing M$ Enterprise
> support (or at least the old comparisons did). Most of the SBS-sized
> customers would never dream of having a support contract w/ M$, have no
> plans for Linux desktops, and one hardly needs to buy Novell SBS to get
> OpenOffice. The truth is that a 5-user edition of M$'s SBS is $495, and
> only $50 if you have a qualifying non-profit. Those who know me know I'm
> no
> M$ shill, but I get allergic reactions to silly comparisons.
>
> Tim Wohlford
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