04.10.08
“Novell/Microsoft” in the Press: When Two Become One
Novell and Microsoft may stubbornly insist that they are separate entities while openly describing themselves as “partners”. As we pointed out several times before, those two companies seem to be getting only nearer as time goes by and here is an illuminating new bit.
In the following press release, Novell and Microsoft are mentioned tightly as though they are one. Watch this:
BtoB’s March issue names the top business-to-business agencies in the U.S. PJA is included along with large agency winner BBDO and mid-sized agency Doremus, both in New York. The magazine recognized PJA’s creative work for clients Novell/Microsoft, Trend Micro and TriZetto.
Also on the same day, the following announcement of Interop 2008 did not neglect to mention those two, albeit separately.
Attendees can demo future products and exhibitors include: Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, Motorola, Novell, APC, McAfee, WebEx, Dell and more.
In reality, Microsoft continue to grab decent market portions from Novell’s aging cash cows. The following new announcement is just yet another example.
IT Services is also planning the removal of the Novell login, moving to Microsoft Active Directory and a new network authentication login that will help keep the university’s network safe.
[…]
Landry said in his broadcast that those departments, such as organizations on campus that share specific Novell drives, will be transferred over to a new Microsoft file system by the beginning of summer.
To put things in perspective, when Novell wins a SUSE deal, Microsoft gets paid for it. In the example above, Microsoft hurts Novell’s profits. It’s truly a one-way relationship. How can Novell be pleased?
Meanwhile, Novell’s new press booster, namely Zonker, continues to do some legwork. It turns out that he’s a publisher at OStatic now. It’s worth keeping an eye on this because of the Om Malik relationship (he AstroTurfed for Microsoft in exchange for payments). █
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.
Kafta said,
April 10, 2008 at 9:31 am
“To put things in perspective, when Novell wins a SUSE deal, Microsoft gets paid for it.”
You are talking nonsense.
Roy Schestowitz said,
April 10, 2008 at 10:10 am
No, that would be Brad Smith talking ‘nonesense’. From November 2006, among many other occasions:
In simple terms, Novell pays Microsoft for SUSE. The more SUSE Novell sells, the more profit it passes on to Microsoft. It’s also in Novell’s SEC filings where this is stated quite clearly.