Novell’s SuSE Linux acquisition could make the penguin fly

Novell’s acquisition of SuSE Linux was among the biggest IT announcements of 2003. Besides the increasing adoption of Linux in the Indian enterprise, India also boasts of one of the largest and fastest growing developer populations in the world. Srikanth R P explains why this deal is important to Onward Novell India and how the firm plans to leverage the acquisition in these parts

With the SuSE Linux acquisition, Harish Mehta says that Onward Novell India is now in a position to take a leadership role in the Indian Linux scenario

India is home to around 6,50,000 software developers and constitutes close to 10 percent of the world’s developer population. India is also registering one of the fastest growth rates when it comes to the number of developers—the base of professionals is growing at an average of more than 30 percent year-on-year. This growth could make the Indian community of developers the largest in the world in the next two to three years. Against this backdrop, the community of Indian developers could turn to be an extremely influential community for Novell when it comes to growing the market for its SuSE Linux brand of Linux.

Also, many Linux vendors have so far focused on positioning Linux simply as an alternative OS. But Novell wants to project Linux as an ecosystem where its services (file, print and directory services) would be the key differentiators. As most Linux vendors derive a majority of their revenues from providing services around the core OS, the ability to influence Indian

developers would play a key role in influencing the decisions of global companies—most of whom have development or R&D centres in India. While Novell is still a long way off from making a dent in the market, on paper it has all the tools it needs to succeed in the market place and emerge as a realistic competitor to Microsoft and the Unix brigade.

Says Harish Mehta, deputy chairman and managing director, Onward Novell India, “Today, most enterprise customers seek not just an alternative OS but also the option of different applications or services available on the platform. With this acquisition, Novell has not only widened its addressable market but also becomes the only $1 billion company to offer the full stack of Linux solutions and services. And as India is still way behind in PC penetration and adoption of technology, we believe that in the coming years the Indian market offers one of the biggest opportunities for adoption of Linux. Because of this acquisition, we will be in a position to take a leadership role in the Indian Linux scenario.” It’s a fact that Novell does have the firepower today to make a big impact in the Linux space.

Killer moves?

While Novell hasn’t been known in the past for being quick on its feet, this time around Novell has moved fast—it has been focusing on the Linux market since it knows Linux holds the key to the company’s fortunes. First, Novell announced the launch of Novell Nterprise Linux services, which allow organisations looking at embracing Linux as an OS to extend traditional NetWare networking services to the Linux platform without losing functionality. Next came the acquisition of Ximian, a leader in providing Linux desktop solutions. Ximian’s acquisition gives Novell a key differentiator to compete with other Linux vendors like Red Hat who have struggled to extend Linux to the desktop. This could be particularly important in a market like India where the price of software has always been a prickly issue.

Ximian’s acquisition also gives Novell control over a project called ‘Mono’, an open source alternative to Microsoft’s .NET. Using Mono, developers can create applications to run on Linux or Unix. This development could interest many Indian developers.

Additionally, the acquisition also gives Novell control over Red Carpet, a popular utility for automatically updating different versions of Linux on PCs. The software automates the central management of software on workstations and servers running a variety of Linux distributions, which sources at Novell say would significantly reduce the cost of Linux ownership for customers. Red Carpet also addresses a critical concern for many CIOs today who are looking at adopting Linux but are wary of migration issues. Industry players say that CIOs can use Red Carpet to migrate to a Linux-based environment without any hassles.

Ashit Panjwani says Onward Novell will use its vast base of resellers servicing Novell products to push the Linux line

Novell’s line-up now includes a server and a desktop version of Linux, besides a number of utilities for managing

and configuring Linux-based machines. When one combines the acquired Linux strengths with Novell’s existing One Net strategy, you have a player that could provide a tough challenge to Microsoft, both in the enterprise and on the desktop. Novell’s One Net strategy comprises three core parts—exteNd (Web-based application development), Nsure (secure identity management) and Nterprise (cross platform networking services). With support for Linux, besides the consulting expertise that Novell has gained with the earlier acquisition of Cambridge Technology Partners, Novell could drive Linux into the core of the Indian enterprise.

Strengths

Though no numbers are available, Novell has a significant user base in India using products like eDirectory, ZENworks and GroupWise, besides the network operating system, Novell NetWare. Novell believes that it can offer this user base a chance to look at Linux seriously. For instance, Linux servers that were predominantly used to run Web applications can now be extended to include network management and collaboration functions using Novell’s Nterprise Linux services.

Says Prakash Advani, senior vice president, Netcore Solutions, “Novell has a strong presence in the Indian market. Many top organisations are still using Novell NetWare somewhere in the organisation. Since Novell already has a foot in the door (a server in the organisation) running these services, the company can not only offer a migration path but also other services that they were not providing earlier.”

Novell is also tackling the concerns of CIOs head-on.

For instance, in a Forrester Research Survey titled ‘The Linux tipping point’, close to 46 percent of respondents say ‘lack of support’ is a major issue. Novell has said that it will support every Linux product it offers, along with an indemnification against any losses arising because of SCO’s lawsuit. Another major concern was lack of product maturity. Novell is addressing this by porting some of its best products to Linux—GroupWise (messaging and collaboration) and ZENworks (systems management). The company has also addressed CIO concerns like lack of standards (with tools like Red Carpet) and security (Novell has some of the best tools in the industry for secure identity management).

Prakash Advani feels that since Novell already has a presence in many Indian corporates, the company can offer a migration path to Linux

Besides developers, Novell is also looking at actively using the certification route to help build up support infrastructure for Linux. Says Munesh Jalota, country manager, Indian subcontinent, Onward Novell India, “A key issue in the adoption of Linux is support. India has around 15,000 certified Novell engineers. We would be looking at turning them into certified Linux engineers to create a robust support infrastructure for Linux across the country.” This move would go a long way in addressing one of the core issues for adoption of Linux—that of support.

Adds Ashit Panjwani, national manager, alliances and marketing, Onward Novell India, “Currently, SuSE Linux does not have a direct presence in India. With the acquisition by Novell, SuSE Linux gets a direct presence in India.” Also, SuSE Linux is currently being distributed and supported in India by only two distributors. Novell has a vast base of resellers servicing Novell’s products. The company plans to tap this base for aggressively pushing Linux across the Indian enterprise. Alliance plans are also on the anvil—Onward Novell intends to forge relationships with Indian software majors who play a role in influencing technology decisions at user firms.

Conclusion

Novell’s entry into the Linux space could not have come at a better time. Many vendors have already made significant investments in terms of time and effort in educating customers about Linux. Novell also understands the current concerns of CIOs and has solutions to address each of these concerns. With the adoption of Linux in the enterprise on the upsurge, Novell with its installed base could make a huge difference with its brand and support.

But as anyone watching the enterprise space knows, it won’t be a cakewalk for Novell either. The enterprise Linux space is dominated by Red Hat. But when you consider the larger market and the fact that Linux (both Red Hat and SuSE) will only keeping growing, the real competition for Novell is not Red Hat but Microsoft and Unix. Agrees Advani of Netcore Solutions, “I do not think the competition for Novell is Red Hat. It’s too small a market. All the Linux companies compete for the same market—the Unix and Windows market in the server space.”

Additionally, it would also be interesting to watch how a proprietary software company can embrace the open source model and profit from it. And of course, many Novell applications for Linux have come from different sources and the challenge for Novell is to integrate them seamlessly. But despite these issues, Linux enthusiasts are happy since the market for Linux will expand with Novell’s powerful backing.

According to Munesh Jalota, Onward Novell will look at transforming the 15,000 certified Novell engineers in India into certified Linux engineers to create a robust support infrastructure for Linux across the country

Tarun Dua, an avid Linux enthusiast, sums it up perfectly when he says, “There is huge interest being shown by CXOs looking at the lower total cost of ownership for Linux. Novell also seems to be pushing for migrating the pool of existing non-Linux developers towards Linux using Mono, a technology that is usable today and allows developers to run C# and MonoBasic (similar to Basic) on Linux. This, combined with the focus on usability for the average home user can help Novell make a difference in the Linux world.”

With all the building blocks in place, Novell surely seems set to play a big role in changing the image of the Penguin—from being seen as just a challenger to Microsoft to being considered a serious player in the enterprise world.

Novell’s key differentiators

Red Carpet—A popular utility for automatically updating different versions of Linux on PCs. The software automates the central management of software on workstations and servers running a variety of Linux distributions, which sources at Novell say would significantly reduce the cost of Linux ownership for customers. Project Mono—An open source alternative to Microsoft’s .NET.

srikanth@expresscomputeronline.com