After a long-running cycle of beta releases, Novell Inc has finally cut a production version of its NDS for NT 2.0 code which enables users to manage NT networks, applications and security from a single point. Microsoft Corp won’t be delivering the equivalent functionality until the release of Windows 2000 (NT 5.0) with its Active Directory. Novell would of course like IT departments to pass over NT’s directory services and pay it for using NDS instead. Novell cites Gartner reports that suggest NDS can cut administration costs by up to 40%. Novell is pressing hard to establish NDS Novell Directory Services on non-NetWare platforms and says it has given away tens of thousands of betas as part of its test program. However, it has yet to attract the kind of big names which will get significant momentum going although it claims to have several companies that are not yet willing to go public with their plans. For the record, Broadway National Bank and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are using the work; ThinkTank, CalData Systems and Accudata Systems are reselling it. Hewlett-Packard Co offers a version of NDS on HP-UX, Caldera has a version on Linux and Novell is readying an implementation of the 2.0 code for Sun’s Solaris Unix in the first quarter. If Sun were to resell NDS for Solaris that would significantly help Novell’s prospects but as yet it does not have such a contract with Sun. Investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co hears that following its deal with Netscape and America OnLine, Sun will instead sell Netscape’s directory services, not NDS. Novell declined to comment on its discussions but it’s a deal Novell CEO Eric Schmidt won’t want to lose. The former Sun CTO has, according to his product managers, been pressing them hard to develop highly functional implementations for Unix. IBM is readying NDS for AIX and S/390. In recent deals with Cisco, Lucent and Nortel/Bay, it is clear that Novell is also aggressively trying to extend NDS into the area of network policy management solutions, and towards application integration with its PeopleSoft and Oracle deals. Novell says NDS for NT 2.0 provides faster access and lower cost of use by eliminating the need for remote offices to manage NT domain trust relationships. They no longer need to communicate across a WAN to corporate offices or wherever the main NDS server is, for authentication. It also offers new tools that enable users to share files and services administered from Novell’s NW Admin program. It offers synchronization of NDS and NT passwords and provides a choice of managing users and groups with either NetWare Admin or Microsoft’s User Manager, or both. It is priced at $26 per user; $700 per NT server.
