Microsoft fires broadside at Novell Netware

By Steve Malone

Posted on 17 Nov 2004 at 09:56

What Redmond giveth, Redmond taketh away. Barely a week after settling an anti-trust suit with Novell over unfair practices designed to drive Netware out of the Enterprise and a few days since Novell slapped in a similar suit making similar allegations over WordPerfect, Microsoft has fired a broadside at Novell by offering US Netware customers an attractive deal to migrate to Windows Server 2003.

Microsoft is offering wavering Netware users a range of goodies including tools, prescriptive guidance, training and technical support to help them migrate to Windows Server 2003. In addition, certain NetWare customers can get a $600 'partner services subsidy' for each Windows Server 2003 license they buy along with 50 client access licences. For bigger customers, the US Mid-Market NetWare Migration Promotion, could mean up to $15,000 for the maximum of 25 subsidies per customer.

As the final icing Microsoft is throwing in free online training vouchers and unlimited newsgroup based technical support.

Martin Taylor, Microsoft's General Manager of Platform Strategy said, 'These offerings are designed to help address customers' concerns and assist them in evaluating their options through information, tools and Microsoft partner support, making migration easier and more cost-effective'. Offering hard cash helps too.

Amongst the tools on offer to smooth migration paths, Microsoft are Windows Services For Netware (SFN), a set of free, downloadable tools for migrating from NetWare to Windows Server 2003. For more complex migrations of installations with more than 1000 seats Microsoft also is offering a 20 per cent discount Quest Software's NDS Migrator. Microsoft will also offer solution accelerators that, it claims, provide migration guidance for both Windows SFN and Quest NDS Migrator.