Novell has launched the open beta version of Novell Groupwise 7.
The new version of GroupWise promises to deliver more security, more reliability, more scalability, and more collaboration tools than the competition. New features include better integration between email and instant messaging, and a new ‘home view’ for the re-vamped Windows client.
Just as interesting as Novell’s [NOVL] technology is its marketing plan. For a limited time, organizations migrating to GroupWise from Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes/Domino can purchase a single GroupWise user license for $49, including two years of upgrade protection – a 70% saving on the list price. To entice organizations a little more, Novell is offering a free GroupWise Migration Utility that will move various items directly from Exchange and Outlook into GroupWise.
While organizations that have recently migrated to Exchange 2000/2003 are highly unlikely to be tempted by this offer, it is definitely worth considering for those still running Exchange 5.5. When it ships later this year, GroupWise 7 will include Novell’s SUSE Linux Enterprise Server bundled at no extra cost, but while the inclusion of SUSE may well appeal to those organizations considering open source servers, it is unlikely to appeal to the many Wintel system administrators out there, as this could prove just one change too many.
GroupWise is not Novell’s only messaging product. The company also offers NetMail and is involved in the open source communication and collaboration projects, Openexchange Server and Project Hula. Novell would argue that these offerings are all very much complementary and target different markets, but Novell may just be confusing the very customers it is trying so hard to keep.
Linux clearly has a great part to play in the future of Novell, and so perhaps these other projects are just ways of encouraging organizations to take Linux seriously in the enterprise. However, if Novell wants to become the ‘Microsoft of the Linux world’, then it must be clear and concise in the way it communicates its offerings to this nascent market.
Source: Butler Group OpinionWire (www.butlergroup.com)
