U.K. university ditches NetWare for Windows

NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: DAVE KEARNS ON NOVELL NETWARE TIPS
08/04/05
Today's focus: U.K. university ditches NetWare for Windows

Dear networking.world@gmail.com,

In this issue:

* Sad news from the U.K. for Novell
* Links related to Novell NetWare Tips
* Featured reader resource
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Today's focus: U.K. university ditches NetWare for Windows

By Dave Kearns

The U.K.'s Coventry University has been a large NetWare user for
many years. Its 18,000 students and staff have enjoyed the
NetWare environment since before the school became a university
back in 1992. Thirty servers currently handle the school's
networking needs. Sadly, that's about to change.

According to a story on the U.K.'s Silicon.com
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell4430>, "Coventry University
is replacing its ageing Novell Netware infrastructure with
Microsoft products in a £500,000 deal." That's bad, but the
thing that made me wince is when the story said that this switch
"...will also boost the technical skills of its IT staff."

Maybe what they mean is that you need to be more technically
savvy to keep a Windows server up and running. After all, Colin
Bruce, IT manager at Coventry University, is quoted as saying:
"We had no Windows experience at all - people used it on the
desktop but that was about it." Perhaps they're in for a rude
awakening.

What really bothers me about this story, though, is that
academia has always been a stronghold of NetWare ever since it
was begun as a school project at Brigham Young University. The
educational community has also been among the strongest
supporters of Linux over the years. You'd think that if any
organization would make the move from NetWare to SuSE Linux it
would be a college or university.

But the real problem, as I mentioned in Network World a few
weeks ago <http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell4431> is that it
appears that no one at Coventry University really understands
what Novell is doing with NetWare and its constituent products.
Among the reasons given for the migration, according to the
Silicon.com story:
* Access to shared online calendars and diaries.
* Faster log-in for users.
* Greater levels of resilience.
* Puts in place the infrastructure to support single sign-on.
* Puts in place the infrastructure to support remote working by
staff and students.

Bruce further says that the existing infrastructure was limiting
the choice of software available to departments. "It was felt
that we were being constrained by the NetWare environment," he
is quoted as saying.

Now I know, and hopefully you know, that NetWare, eDirectory,
GroupWise and the rest of the Novell environment can do all of
those things and more, and do them better than the Microsoft
products. Why doesn't Bruce, the University's IT manager, know
that?

My guess is that he sees a lot more of his Microsoft sales and
marketing people than he does those from Novell. And that's sad.

The top 5: Today's most-read stories

1. Leaked Cisco slides pulled after legal threats
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell4432>

2. Gartner: Bank card fraud too easy for phishers
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell4433>

3. BellSouth cuts DSL pricing
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell4434>

4. Cisco vulnerability posted to Internet
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell4435>

5. Google now a hacker's tool
<http://www.networkworld.com/nlnovell4436>
_______________________________________________________________
To contact: Dave Kearns

Dave Kearns is a writer and consultant in Silicon Valley. He's
written a number of books including the (sadly) now out of print
"Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Networks." His musings can be
found at Virtual Quill <http://www.vquill.com/>.

Kearns is the author of three Network World Newsletters: Windows
Networking Tips, Novell NetWare Tips, and Identity Management.
Comments about these newsletters should be sent to him at these

respective addresses: <mailto:windows@vquill.com>,
<mailto:netware@vquill.com>, <mailto:identity@vquill.com>.

Kearns provides content services to network vendors: books,
manuals, white papers, lectures and seminars, marketing,
technical marketing and support documents. Virtual Quill
provides "words to sell by..." Find out more by e-mail at
<mailto:info@vquill.com>
_______________________________________________________________
This newsletter is sponsored by Novell
The NetWare you love. The Linux you crave.

See what the Power of Two can do for you. Upgrade to Novell
Open Enterprise Server today. Learn more and download a copy
at http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=109826
_______________________________________________________________
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